17 months later: The Lost Ones
by Raizen Yusuke
Summary: The Privaron Espada had been defeated. Ichigo, Orihime, and their loved ones have been enjoying long and well deserved peace. That peace is shattered by a new unknown threat that shakes up everything. Alliances are called into question, friends keep secrets, and bonds are tested. Ichigo goes on a quest to reclaim his power. Sequel to 1 year and 5 months. My version of LSS arc
1. 17 months later

**This is a sequel to my earlier story 1 year and 5 months. It is basically my version of Lost Substitute Shinigami arc. It is Ichigo/Orihime story. You don't necessarily need to have read the first one it make mentions to events that happened in that story. For example Ichigo and Orihime will have their little things or quirks that you might not full understand or appreciate unless you read the first story. They've been a couple long enough that if you haven't read 1 year and 5 months that they may seem out of character. I assure you it matches up to character development from the previous story. **

**I want to thank my beta reader MasterQwertster. She really helped me clean it up. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach in any way or form**.

* * *

><p>His eyes snapped open as consciousness was forced upon him. The first thing he was greeted with was a very bright sun. The brightness was too much for his eyes to handle that early. Tears started forming. If only that was the problem. There was a buzzing going through his ears. In addition to being blind, he was now hearing things. The day had just started and it was already off to a bad note. He could tell this was going to be a fine day. He sat up to meet the blasted sun head on. The stinging subsided and his eyes adjusted. Now he could see outside of his widow.<p>

_Karakura Town_

_Monday_

_7:00 am_

"Onii-chan!" a voice cried. He assumed that must have been the buzzing in his ear. "It's morning! It's time to get up!" the voice cried again. Now that his wits had returned to him, he recognized the voice belonged to his annoyingly chipper little sister, Yuzu. How could a person be so perky this early in the morning? His body was so groggy. God knew he wanted to put his head back on the pillow and let sleep claim him again. If only he could give into temptation. If only he wasn't so responsible.

_Kurosaki Ichigo _

_Age: 17_

"So sleepy," Ichigo muttered. He could probably get a few more minutes of sleep. What if he took ten more minutes? It was just ten minutes. Ten extra minutes couldn't hurt. The moment he laid his head back on a pillow his overbearing father would barge in his room and attack him in bed. He would get pissed off and have to murder his father. That would lead him to jail. There was no more sleep for him.

_Hair Color: Orange_

_Eye Color: Brown_

_Profession: High School Student _

"Time to get up," he recited his sister. Ichigo got out of the bed. If Yuzu was waking him up that meant she had already gotten ready. Karin was either finishing up in the bathroom or was already dressed and showered. He was the last one to use the bathroom. A cold shower might not be so bad. It would wash away the last traces slumber.

_He cannot see spirts_

The bathroom was free. Ichigo quickly hopped into the shower. To his surprise there was still hot water. That was just what he needed. As soon as the water hit his skin he was fully awakened and reborn. Not wishing to test how much hot water was left Ichigo showered as fast as he could. By the time he returned to his room to get dressed he saw that it was only fourteen minutes after seven. He didn't understand how both his sisters took twice as long as he did. In less than a minute he was already dressed and ready to go out the door. The only thing left to do was collect his books.

They were on his desk. The ex-substitute gathered all his things into his bag until there was only a handmade good luck charm. A smile formed. Orihime made that for him as a Christmas gift. She was hoping it would remind him of the one his mother made for his father. It was much more than that. It was the piece of her heart that she gave him. He made sure to protect it with all his heart. That was why he had carried it with him since that day he got it. _'I'm becoming too sentimental for my own good. I'm starting to sound like an old man,' _Ichigo thought. He placed the charm in his pocket all the same.

* * *

><p>All was quiet in the Kurosaki household. It was unnaturally quiet. Ichigo didn't hear any of his father's earsplitting cries. If he wasn't bugging his sisters that would usually mean he was planning a sneak attack on him, but he usually would have attacked him by now. Would he attack him on the stairs? No. He had gone down without incident. The kitchen and dining room were safe. Yuzu wouldn't allow him to attack Ichigo there. She finally got fed up with their skirmishes taking place in the kitchen when they had accidently ruined one of her meals. She put her foot down on their dad launching sneak attacks in the kitchen. Could his father just be sitting down waiting for breakfast like a normal person? There was only one way to find out.<p>

As Ichigo walked into the door way a blur jumped out of nowhere. His vision was able to make out a light brown streak. "Taaaaadaaaaa!" his sister cried. He was bewildered. Yuzu had pranced around and made a pose as if she was a model presenting the latest fashion trend. Her voice was bubbly and bouncing with energy. He thought she was perky before, but what he saw now made her perkiness look quite tame in comparison. All that flailing around made her skirt ride up. He hoped she didn't do any of that at school. When had she started wearing a school uniform? That was it.

"Oh, guess today is your school entrance ceremony," he said off handedly. Yuzu was showing off her new school uniform. She was excited about entering junior high. He turned to her dark haired counterpart sitting at table. "Karin, pass the soy sauce." He took his seat when the soy sauce was slammed down right in front of him. When he looked up he saw it wasn't Karin's doing, but Yuzu's. Her face scrunched up and marred with anger, warping her appearance.

"Ok. Here's the soy sauce!" She turned her back to him and stormed off. He had no idea why her mood had shifted so suddenly. He spared a look at Karin hoping to find any clue, but she just shook her head and went on eating her breakfast.

Realizing he would get no help from one sibling he decided he would need to get to the bottom of this mood swing from the other sibling on his own. "What are you upset about, Yuzu?"

"I'm not upset!" she retorted immediately. The self-appointed caretaker of the Kurosaki family scooped rice into a bowl that he hoped was still going to be his. "It's just that I went to through all the trouble of not showing you my uniform until the day of my school entrance ceremony and you won't even look at it."

He winced. He knew that tone all too well. It was one that was now showing up more often than it originally did. He could feel the underlying fury hiding beneath her words. The displeasure remained on the surface of them.

"But I don't care," Yuzu continued. "I'm not going to give you the burnt part of the rice that you like." The light haired twin slapped the bowl right in front of her infuriating older brother. "I bet Onee-chan would notice it right away."

That was hardly fair. Orihime paid more attention to details than he did about clothes or hair styles. She could have easily picked out when Yuzu did something different or new. He didn't even notice Yuzu was growing her hair out until it went past her shoulders. He just wasn't hardwired like that. It wasn't even like he didn't notice in the end. He just didn't see the big deal. If she wanted him to be observant, he was going to be observant. He took in his younger sister's appearance. It was a good thing he did. Her skirt was unzipped. If she went to her first day of school like that she was going to be humiliated. "Your zipper's open."

He heard her squeal as embarrassment no doubt set in. Better she be embarrassed here at home than at school where she would be mercilessly teased for the rest of the year. "See I was looking," Ichigo teased.

"Stupid!" exclaimed a red faced Yuzu. "My brother's a perv!" Where did he get off saying something like that? It was so pervy! He had the nerve to tease her about it. This was her first day of junior high yet he didn't seem to care at all. It was just a joke to him. Karin wouldn't be any help. Her twin sister disregarded both of them and continued to eat. Her siblings were impossible. Was it too much to ask for at least one of them to be on her side? As if to respond to her wish there came a knock on the door. The youngest Kurosaki sibling lit up. Someone who would be on her side was here! Forgetting her dismissive brother and unsympathetic sister she went to the door as fast as her legs could carry her.

Karin immersed herself into her meal, trying to ignore the annoyances of the outside world. Ichigo and Yuzu she could handle. She understood both her brother and sister well enough to navigate through their antics. What annoyed her was the group of spirits surrounding her. Their blank stares at her food were pitiful. They were ghosts. They couldn't eat anything anymore. They had been following her all morning. One of them put their chubby face uncomfortably close to her bowl. She poked his glasses with her chopsticks hard enough to break the lens. Why would a ghost still need glasses anyway? You would figure once you died your eye sight would become perfect.

"My glasses!" the spirit whined. It served him right for getting all into her face.

"What's up, Karin?" Ichigo asked. He caught sight of her seemingly press her chopsticks at thin air. Well it was thin air to him, but most likely a spirit. Karin wasn't the type of person to randomly do silly things. He would be willing to bet his next paycheck on that.

His dark haired sister continued to eat her meal as before. It was like nothing out of the ordinary happened at all. "Nothing," she answered. Karin kept her strengthened spiritual power and the troubles that came with it away from Ichigo. After learning the truth of his life as a shinigami she didn't feel right to confide in her bother. Instead she went to Orihime. The older girl was empathetic to her plight. She helped Karin adjust to the increased number of spirits that came to her in light of Ichigo's power loss. When the legions of spirits finally became too much with their insistent chattering, the person she had called for help was Orihime. She came to Karin's aid without a moment to spare. The two of them discussed everything, from Ichigo to Karin's increased spiritual power. That was the day they forged their own bond unique to them alone. Karin held the elder girl in high esteem.

That didn't go as he expected. Karin had gone back to eating without hesitation. Apparently she had a handle on the spirits visiting her. He wasn't sure why he was surprised. Karin hadn't asked for his advice on how to handle spirits even once this past year. She was managing all on her own.

"Good morning!" The sound of that high-spirited voice made him smile. Orihime came into the kitchen, ushering in a jubilant and loving air with her. The atmosphere had changed. The straight faced Karin cracked a small smile. The healer wished them all good morning and took her seat next to him. He leaned in and pressed his lips to hers for a brief moment. A jolt coursed through her body. They had been together for a little over a year and she still felt that same spark she did when they kissed for the first time. She hoped that feeling would never go away.

"Morning, Inoue." His tone was low and husky. It made her giddy. He did that on purpose. She couldn't believe he would do that in front of Karin-chan and Yuzu-chan. The fact that he didn't feel uncomfortable kissing her in front of his sisters showed just how far they had come along.

"Onii-chan," Yuzu called her carrot top brother. "Do you know what Onee-chan said when she saw me?"

No. He didn't particularly want to know what Orihime said, especially when it was going to be used against him. Yuzu wasn't going to stop even if he asked her not to, so he remained quiet. Light haired girl smiled cheek to cheek. "She said I looked lovely and wished me good luck on my first day of junior high." He groaned inwardly. "It's nice to have someone notice me and actually care. Thank you, Onee-chan." She made sure to put much emphasis on the last part just to rub it into Ichigo's face that her honorary sister was putting more effort than her actual brother.

"You know if I didn't care I would have let you go to school with your skirt unzipped."

"Onii-chan! You are impossible!" The blush returned in full force.

Unsure at what latest brother-sister spat she had walked into Orihime, decided to steer clear from it and turned to Karin. A small group of ghosts were around her. It looked like her anti-spirit and hollow products had run out. At least it was a small crowd. "Is everything alright?" she asked the second scowling Kurosaki.

"Everything is fine. These guys are just being bothersome as usual, but it's nothing I can't handle."

"Hey!" Yuzu mistakenly thought that Karin was referring to her and Ichigo instead of the ghosts hovering around Karin. Orihime had to admit that Karin's handle on spirits had grown considerably. When Ichigo lost his shinigami powers it caused her spiritual power to increase and she had been plagued by so many spirits that she was overwhelmed and had broken down in a public restroom. The girl Orihime was looking at now barely paid any spirits any mind. She was proud of how Karin had grown.

"Yuzu!" The head of the Kurosaki household stormed into the kitchen, uncharacteristically he ignored his son instead of trying to issue one of his so called training sessions. "Yuzu!" he cried again. Isshin came in frantic. He was wearing a formal black suit that contrasted his usual casual attire. "Hey, take a look Yuzu. What do you think of this suit?"

It looked nice on him in Orihime's opinion. It was rare for Isshin-san to need to wear a suit. Karin and Yuzu's entrance ceremony was certainly an event he would deem necessary for him to wear one.

Isshin held out two ties in his hand. In his right was a normal tie with stars on it and in his left a polka dot bow tie. "Which looks better, a normal tie or a bow tie?" He anxiously switched back forth between ties, trying them out, unable to decide. A man she had seen cool and collected while performing surgery was working himself into a frenzy just trying to decide what to wear. To a father trying to not to embarrass his daughters the healer could understand why he was so desperate to pick right.

Yuzu was completely relaxed. She didn't seem to see the concern her father had. She looked at each tie for about a second. "Well…." Isshin was hanging on to her every word. The next words she spoke would determine his fate or at least Isshin seemed to think so. "…I don't think…" His teeth were chattered. "…it really matters." Yuzu flashed her most apologetic smile.

It did little to lessen the damage. The dark haired man became distraught. "It doesn't matter," he repeated in a monotone voice. "It doesn't matter. IT DOESN'T MATTER!?" There was a collective sigh from his children. It didn't matter? How could that be possible? This was the most important day of Yuzu and Karin's lives. They were entering junior high! They were teenagers now. His little girls were growing up. How could Yuzu not think it mattered!? He would have expected that from stupid Ichigo or blank Karin, but not his sunny, upbeat, Yuzu. She was the one who understood him. Ichigo and Karin must have gotten to her. That was the only explanation. "How can you say it doesn't matter? I want to be a cool dad who doesn't embarrass you. To do that I need to know the right clothes to wear," he whined.

"If you don't want to embarrass us then just act you age," Karin chimed in.

"Karin, why?" he cried, tears formed in within his eyes. "Why do you always have to tear daddy down?"

Ichigo wasn't going to deal with his old man's blabbering this morning. Despite his initial misgivings this was shaping up to be a perfect morning. He got hot water in the shower, his old man hadn't attacked him, and he was having a nice breakfast with his family and girlfriend. "Can you please stop whining? I mean it is ridiculous for a grown man to act like this."

"I agree," Karin said.

"All of my children have turned against me!" That wasn't entirely true. He still had one more person who hadn't turned on him yet. Isshin went to Orihime. "Promise me, you'll always stay on my side, Orihime. You have to stay on papa's side no matter what."

Ichigo came to the healer's rescue. "Don't drag her into this."

Isshin glared at him. "You stay out of this. This is between me and my favorite daughter!"

"Hey!" cried Yuzu and Karin in unison.

Their father turned his nose up on them. "You have no room to talk. You sided with Ichigo and lost your place."

"What kind of father actually admits he plays favorites?" Karin asked.

"Besides, Orihime-chan is obviously on our side," Yuzu claimed.

"No, she's on my side," Isshin insisted.

She didn't wish to take anyone's side. She loved her surrogate family. How could she be expected to take sides? "I um…don't…I mean that I….I would rather not pick sides."

Isshin and Yuzu exploded with various reasons for why Orihime should be on their respective sides. All the auburn princess could do was smile bashfully and work to appease both sides as she ate breakfast.

* * *

><p>Eventually things had settled down. They all finished their breakfast, not in silence, but in a lively debate, which was typical for them. They all left the house together. His father left a sign explaining he would be gone for some time. He was still fidgeting with his tie much to Ichigo and Karin's dismay. If his sisters were lucky he would have it done before they made it to the school. They said their goodbyes, with Orihime giving a brief hug to Karin and Yuzu, which they returned.<p>

They really did love Orihime. It seemed so long ago when he worried if his sisters would like Orihime. Stupid Keigo had put that fear into him. The three of them were as close as sisters. Well she had become the unofficial fifth member of the Kurosaki family. Yuzu and his father made it no secret that they hoped it would become official in the future. In his opinion they were really rushing things. They were only seventeen after all.

He was grateful his family liked and approved of Orihime. From glimpses of Mizuiro's legion of girlfriends and how his parents disapproved of all of them, he had learned how ugly that side could be. It was better to have an embarrassing father pushing marriage than one who kept badgering him about breaking up with his girlfriend. "Are you ready to go?" he asked her.

"Yes." She took his hand. It was strange how holding hands was normal. There was a time when he never would have dreamed of holding her hand, yet here they were. How did they get there anyway? It started after his battle with Aizen or when he woke up from his month long coma and lost the remaining part of his shinigami powers. He was still trying to cope with a normal life. Orihime was there for him. He in turn was there for her, to help her cope with the trials she faced in Hueco Mundo. Their bond kept growing and growing until it transformed into something neither one of them expected. It was something he couldn't imagine not having now.

That was right, it all started when he battled Aizen. He fought that battle so long ago. It had to have been sixteen months. No, that wasn't right. It was April. _'Seventeen months. It's been seventeen months since my battle with Aizen,' _he thought. It had really been that long ago. That was nearly a year and a half ago. It had been nearly a year and half since he lost his shinigami powers. It felt like a lifetime ago. He had barely been in high school for a month when he met Rukia and became a shinigami. He was now in his third and final year. So much had changed in all that time.

"You look really deep in thought," Orihime noted.

"Do I?"

"I hope I'm not bothering you."

"Don't be ridiculous. I was just thinking about how much time has gone by. It's still hard to believe we're in our final year."

"I know. We've only been in school for a week, but it is still hard to process. It's too bad we didn't get in the same class again this year." They had been lucky enough to get the same class two times. It was probably too much to hope for a third time. It wasn't like she didn't get to see him. They still had lunch together. They spent plenty of time together outside of school. At least he had Asano-kun to keep him company. She had Kojima-kun in her class.

"I'm just glad that Honsho isn't in your class this year." Last year he, Orihime, and Honsho had all been in the same class. He was always dragging her off his girlfriend. She made him so mad. He had to remind himself constantly that she was a woman and he couldn't just punch her in the face. When was she going to get a clue that Orihime wasn't playing for the same team as she was?

"Chizuru-chan is really a good person. She can be out of hand, but she has a bunch of good qualities." Chizuru was a good person, but secretly she was happy that they had ended up in different classes. She was exhausting at times. From what she heard from Tatsuki, Chizuru had her eye on someone in their class.

That was just like her to defend even someone who constantly tried to grope her. He had given up trying to argue with her about Honsho. They came up on Mizuiro waiting for the pair. "Morning, Ichigo, Inoue." He gave them his infamous boyish smile that had charmed so many girls.

"Good morning, Kojima-kun." The healer turned to Ichigo. "I have to meet Tatsuki-chan." She planted a quick peck to his lips. "I'll see you at lunch. Please try to stay out of trouble today. I don't think Ishida-kun is going to look the other way if you get reported for fighting again," she warned.

"It's not like I asked him to do me any favors," he mumbled to himself.

"Ich-Kurosaki-kun," she pleaded.

Damn her and those puppy dog eyes. "I'll try not to get into any fights." The small smile that she reserved just for him made it worth it. She was off.

"She's tamed you," Mizuiro teased.

"Shut up and let's get going." Mizuiro still shared a smile at his expense. He was going to have to get him back later. This had become the new normality. He would go to school, hang out with his friends, spend time with his girlfriend, go to work, and everything in between. This was the life he had fought so long and hard for. This was the life his friends had fought to protect. This was the peace they had strived to create. He enjoyed it. He enjoyed his normal life. So why did he feel so lost? He loved his friends. He loved his family and Orihime. He loved this life, but it felt surreal. He should be enjoying this life, but deep down he was afraid of it. No he wasn't afraid of it. He feared enjoying it too much. He didn't expect it to last. What would happen if the peace ended? Would he be forced to the sidelines, while waiting and hoping his friends could restore the peace? Was that the role he was to play? _'This isn't like me. I'm not someone who fears the future. This isn't like me at all. I feel so….lost.'_

The two friends passed through a crowd mixed of other students and workers. Everyone was perfectly normal. Nothing stood out. The orange haired man didn't spare anyone a second glance. He didn't notice him at all. They passed each other and he hadn't even spared a glance. He turned back to see the orange haired man walk off without even thinking of turning back. "Ah, it seems as if things are starting to stir. It might not be too long now. I look forward to meeting you, Kurosaki Ichigo."

* * *

><p><strong>That is the end of the first chapter, which depicted part of chapter 424. I tried to blend as much of the source material, while adding new stuff to try to keep it from being a total rehash. The story will probably start off slow like the actual arc itself. Bear with me. It will pick up<strong>.


	2. Lost Badges and Missing Friends

**Here is the next chapter. I want to give a big thanks to MasterQwertster. She looked over the chapter, fixed it up, and got back to me fast. I really appreciate your speedy work. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach in any shape or form. This is just for fun.**

* * *

><p>"Iiiiiiichiiiiigoooooo!" The second Keigo saw them he made a mad dash toward them. As usual he was completely uninhibited and uncaring of the stray looks he was getting. He ran as fast as his legs would carry him. It was part of the morning ritual that Keigo seemed to absolutely refuse to let go of. Naturally, Ichigo was forced to indulge him. It was a two way street. If he had to indulge Keigo's part in the ritual, he in turn had to indulge Ichigo's part.<p>

The former vizard met the energetic man head on. He locked his arm around Keigo's neck and dragged him into a headlock. "Good morning," he stated as he forced Keigo to the ground. It was mean, but he had no other choice. Keigo could be exhausting. Ichigo could calm him down a bit this way.

"Mmmm." That was another benefit of Ichigo's greeting. He was able to quiet Keigo down until he was prepared to deal with his insistent babbling. "MMMMMM!" Keigo's muffles grew louder. Ichigo could see he was going to have to keep him there for a bit longer to settle him down.

Mizuiro shook his head at his friends display. It had almost been three years, yet Ichigo and Keigo still acted the same. They were both hopeless. "Alright, I'm off," Mizuiro told them. He walked past them not turning back, knowing the end result of the "greeting."

Keigo escaped Ichigo's notice for a moment, while he saw Mizuiro off. "Ok. I'll see you at lunch then." Mizuiro didn't turn back, but he did wave back at them. He felt something slapping his forearm constantly. That was right he had Keigo in a headlock. The poor bastard was taping out. Guilt started to accumulate within the scowling teen. Ichigo released Keigo. The brunet immediately started to grasp for air. "Sorry about that. I kind forgot about you."

"D…do…don't sa…say….that so…nonchalantly," Keigo wheezed out. He never realized just how much he took air for granted. The way his heart thumped against chest reminded him that he would never again take it for granted. He was going to start getting on his knees and thanking air personally.

The carrot top shrugged his shoulders. Keigo could only whimper like an abused dog whimpered at being cruelly treated by his master. The fact that he compared himself to a dog didn't go unnoticed by Keigo. He was forever doomed to be treated as a side character in his own life. "Y…you….re ….too….mean," he finished. At least Ichigo had the decency to help him up. It was just in time as a small party of girls was coming.

He put on his best smile, loosened his shoulders a bit, ran a hand though his hair and made a pose. Giggles erupted from them. Keigo was that good. He was about to flirt only for the girls to ignore him and go straight for his prude of a friend.

"Good morning, Kurosaki-senpai," they all greeted.

Ichigo had all the luck. He already had the hottest girl in school as his girlfriend. Why did he need so many underclassman admirers? "God you're lucky."

"You and I have different definitions of luck," Ichigo mused.

"Only you could think having girls pursuing you would be unlucky."

Ichigo rolled his eyes. If he could give Keigo whatever it was that girls found appealing, he would do it in a heartbeat. Ever since last year he had become one of the most desirable guys in the school. According to Keigo and Mizuiro it was because his delinquent reputation had proven false. Without that shadow following him apparently his good looks made girls rethink their position on him.

The trip to classroom had been uneventful. Keigo still pouted over Ichigo not appreciating "good luck." Ichigo pointed out that Keigo's eccentric behavior is what scared off girls who might have been interested in him. That shut him up until they got to their class. One good thing about his bad reputation falling by to way side was that he no longer got dirty looks when he entered the classroom. They would look at him and go about their business or maybe even smile and say hi. That happened today as well, except one set of eyes lingered on him. Waiting at his desk was Tatsuki. He still wasn't use to her having long hair. It made her look so different. She just didn't look like the same Tatsuki he met at the dojo when they were kids.

She put her hands on her hips as soon as she saw him and gave that look that said it was about time he got there. "Ichigo, did you bring Tekken?" That was right he was supposed to bring back her game. He borrowed it last week. "The new one's coming out so I need to get that one back soon."

Normally Tatsuki would give him a bigger grace period to return one of her games, but with the new Tekken coming out soon she needed the old one back to trade in. She planned on using the money she got from the old one to help pay for the new one. For her sake he made sure to remember to put the game in his bag last night. "Yeah, I've got it." He lifted the bag to show her. "I've got it right here." Now where did he put it exactly? His eyes scanned the bag quickly. He knew he put it in there. He needed to organize better. It must have been at the bottom. He moved things around until he saw an old battered piece of wood. The sight of it made his heart stop.

_'My substitute badge!'_ thought Ichigo. He had forgotten that it was even in his bag. He couldn't even recall the last time he actually saw it.

He felt an unwanted pressure against his back. He turned around and saw that Tatsuki had forced herself through him, brushing against him with no thought of his personal space. "What? Did you forget it?" Her face scrunched up into an ugly frown. She had some nerve. He said he had it and she still pushed and shoved her way to him as if he was some unreliable toddler. He always returned her possessions to her. He deserved more credit and respect than she was giving him.

"Shut it." He retrieved the game and shoved it in her face, not caring if she was offended. "I've got it right here, see?"

The frown fell away at least. To her credit she stopped being so annoying. "Thanks for bringing it back. Sorry, if I was a little, you know."

"Bitchy," Ichigo suggested, earning a glare from Tatsuki. She didn't object vocally. He figured it was her conscious catching up to how unfairly she treated him.

"Whatever. I'm just glad you remembered something for a change."

"Stop exaggerating. You always paint me as some kind of guy who would be lucky to remember he can breathe," the ex-substitute complained.

Tatsuki snorted. "Every time I lend you my notes you always keep them way too long and I end up not getting them back until I have to cram."

"Oh, geez how long are you going to keep throwing that in my face? I said I was sorry like a hundred times. Besides, I always return your things and in good condition, I might add." She could attest to that herself.

"Yeah, yeah, so when I get the new one are you going to come over to play it with me or are you actually going to save up your money and buy the game for yourself?"

"I'll probably just go over to your house and play it," he said bluntly.

The raven haired woman shook her head in disbelief at her friend's admission. "I don't understand how you have a job yet won't use money to buy your own stuff."

"I'm saving up money for college next year." She stared at him as if he had grown two heads. It gave him goose bumps. "What's with that look?"

"I'm just surprised you're actually thinking about the future," the second strongest girl in Japan spoke with same wonderment one expected a wide eyed child to have.

He narrowed his eyes and gave her one of his darkest glares. Tatsuki, having known him long enough, was undeterred by it. "It's almost time for class. You better get going or you'll be late." Ichigo wanted her to leave. She was one of the few people who could annoy him yet be immune to his scare tactics. It got really annoying from time to time.

"You're right," she said, checking the clock. There was only five minutes before class started and her class was pretty far from his. "See you at lunch." He waved her off.

_'Thank god she is finally gone.'_ He could finally enjoy some peace before class started. Keigo had already taken his seat and was using the extra time to go over his homework again. Over the past year he had taken his studies more seriously than he originally did. The former slacker seemed determined to get into a good university. Everyone was concerned about the future. He was offended that Tatsuki thought he was the exception. Of course he was worried about the future. His gaze went back to the badge resting in his bag. He worried more about the future than Tatsuki would ever know.

* * *

><p>"Long time no see," Mizuiro greeted Orihime. Coincidentally the two friends met outside of their classroom. He hadn't expected to run into her there of all places. He was sure she would beat him to class. He noticed the Goddess of Karakura High wasn't her usual upbeat self. She looked to be apprehensive. "Is something wrong?"<p>

Orihime's solemn expression was washed away and her cheerful aura re-emerged. "I am fine, Kojima-kun." He was far from convinced. Kojima-kun wouldn't pry into her business, he would tell Ichigo if he thought something was bothering her. She didn't wish to make her beloved worry unnecessarily. "I was just visiting Sado-kun's classroom, but he wasn't there."

"He might be running late," Mizuiro speculated. Chad was a responsible student despite what his old reputation and appearance would suggest. However, it wasn't out of the question for him to be running late. He was human after all.

Orihime had hoped that Kojima-kun had run into their gentle giant, but his suggestion made it clear he hadn't encountered Sado-kun either. "Maybe, but…."

"But?" Mizuiro repeated.

"If he was running late I would sense his reiatsu near this area. I would sense that he was coming to the school, but I don't feel his reiatsu anywhere near the school."

He wanted to ask if she could be wrong, but he doubted that Inoue would be this concerned if she made a mistake in sensing his reiatsu. He was still unclear of how they could feel this spiritual pressure thing or find people. "It could be possible that Chad's coming later or that he isn't coming today." He had just seen Chad yesterday. He had made no mention of being late or staying home. If he wasn't coming Mizuiro was sure he would have informed at least him or Ichigo, so they could inform his teacher. "He may have come down with something this morning. He might just not feel up to coming to school today."

Kojima-kun's suggestions were reasonable. Just because Sado-kun wasn't at school today didn't necessarily mean anything was wrong. She certainly knew there were some days she missed at school because she was sick. There was no reason to believe Sado-kun wasn't the same way. "That could be it. I'm probably overreacting. I was just worried since he hadn't said anything about not coming to school." Really that wasn't anything to start panicking over. Who knew, perhaps Sado-kun would come to school later. He could show up at lunch for all she knew. It was better to wait and see before stirring up fear over something that could have a logical explanation.

If there was anything wrong she would be sure to let the others know and they could deal with it together. They were a team after all. At the moment she should be worried about making it to class on time. Her teacher was very strict about being punctual. She really didn't want to be scolded in front of the whole class.

* * *

><p>Lunch couldn't have come sooner for Ichigo. His teacher's lecture had been long winded today. He gave them a review of last week's lesson. At least he was allowed to drift off a bit. He found his focus drawn back to his substitute badge more than once. After all that time it was perhaps the only tangible evidence of his life as a shinigami. He had forgotten it was even in his bag. How could that have slipped his mind?<p>

He rejoiced as soon as the lecture ended and they were released for lunch. He barely contained himself from running out of the room with some of the other students who left the room to have lunch with other friends. Everyone had their own place for lunch. Ichigo and his friends had claimed the roof in the first year of high school. For some unknown reason, they never ran into anyone else who ate on the roof during their lunch period. Ichigo suspected his and Chad's bad reputations had discouraged people from going up there, but now neither of them were considered the hellions people once thought they were, so no one feared them as much. Perhaps there was a different reason for why no one else used the roof.

It was one of Ichigo's favorite spots. It was away from everyone else and was out in the sun. It was a great place to have lunch. Keigo and he were the first ones to arrive. Orihime and Mizuiro followed not too far behind them. Tatsuki came through the door next.

"Ishida and Sado aren't here yet," Tatsuki said. She took her seat across from Ichigo and Orihime. "That's not like them."

"Ishida-kun isn't here either," Orihime said, unable to hold her surprise back.

"What do you mean either?" Keigo asked.

All eyes were on Orihime. She was upset with herself over not following her decision to not mention anything until she knew for sure if there was anything to be concerned about. It couldn't be helped now. "I visited Sado-kun's classroom to ask him if he was interested in more bread, but he wasn't there. No one had seen him."

"You don't think something bad happened to him do you?" Keigo asked. Panic was seeped through his words.

The last thing Orihime wanted was to cause unnecessary panic. "It's not like I sensed anything wrong with Sado-kun's reiatsu. I think he's fine. He may just be sick," she hastily threw in. She watched as fear evaporated from Asano-kun's face. That was better.

"What about Ishida?" Mizuiro asked. He was curious as to why Ishida was absent. It wasn't a stretch for Chad to not come to school for whatever reason, but Ishida rarely missed class unless it something very dire. If he had known the archer was missing he wouldn't have told Inoue that Chad's absence was probably nothing.

"I saw him run out of class earlier," Ichigo spoke up. Eyes went to him.

"That's right," Keigo said as the memory returned to him. "His teacher sounded upset at him for just walking out of class." It was unlike their four eyed friend. He never would have predicted that Ishida would be ditching class since he was the responsible student taking notes from his teacher. Boy did things change.

Tatsuki furrowed her brow, broadcasting a mix of confusion and worry. "Is everything alright? It's not like him to just run out of class without a good reason. How long ago was that?"

"He's fine," Ichigo said nonchalantly. Perhaps he said it too easily, because Tatsuki scowled his way. "Ishida probably just got called to hunt down some hollows." It was the only reason that Ishida would run out of class. Ishida had succeeded him in hunting hollows when he lost his shinigami powers. The former vizard was ignorant to all the details, but from what he knew Urahara had worked some deal with Soul Society to allow Ishida to hunt hollows. It seemed the resident shinigami that took over for Rukia was more unreliable than they all thought. "He can handle a few hollows no problem. The guy is probably on his way back and will be here any second."

Right on cue the door opened up and revealed Ishida Uryu coming through it, looking no worse for wear. Without saying one word he took his seat in between Mizuiro and Tatsuki. He must have felt the eyes staring at him, because he looked up and gave them an inquisitive look. "Why are you all looking at me?"

"We were wondering where you were," Tatsuki spoke the group's collective opinion. "Ichigo and Asano said they saw you run out of class."

"I was called by Urahara-san to deal with some hollows," Uryu answered.

A triumphant smirk graced the orange haired man's lips. "I told you. It's not like there was anything to worry about. Ishida can handle a couple of hollows by himself."

"My, my, you are giving me praise. That is completely unlike you," Uryu pointed out. "Don't tell me you've finally recognized my superiority as a quincy?"

God the ego on this guy was enough to fill an ocean. "Don't be ridiculous. It's more like a hollow is just the opponent at your skill level. You should be able to handle it alone or I would lose all hope for you." They never did quite give up taking jabs at each other, but it was far more light hearted than it had once been. They kept it up out of habit at this point. Plus they did love to try to press each other's buttons.

"So you were able to handle the hollow without any problems, Ishida-kun?" Orihime asked.

Uryu ignored Kurosaki's smartass remark to answer his better half's concern. "It was no trouble at all. It only took me as long as it did, because I was forced to wait for Kurumadani to catch up and eliminate the hollows." The mediocre shinigami was really becoming too lax. It was ridiculous that it took him as long as it did to catch up to Uryu when they only had to deal with five hollows.

"Afro-san isn't really good at his job, huh?" Keigo asked.

"No," Ichigo and Uryu replied at the same time. They traded odd expressions.

"That only leaves Chad unaccounted for," Keigo stated.

Until Asano had mentioned it Uryu hadn't even noticed that Sado was not among them. For him to have missed that someone as big as Sado wasn't there spoke of how angry he was at Kurumadani playing catch up.

"Chad didn't show up today. Inoue is probably right and he was sick or something." Ichigo took the same position as his Hime. He didn't see the big deal of Chad not showing up today. He was at school last week when they started the new term. It was just one day.

The healer felt a great weight lifted from her shoulders. Hearing Ichigo, Sado-kun's best friend, say that it wasn't odd for him to not be here made Orihime feel better. She had just overreacted. Now she could eat the rest of her lunch in peace. "Kurosaki-kun," she called.

"Yeah," he answered.

"Would you like to try my special rice balls? I made them for you to try," she said hopefully.

The ex-substitute became so stiff that he people would have sworn he was a board. He didn't want to know what made her rice balls so special. Knowing Orihime it could be made from anything, mustard or pickles. He shuddered at the thought. Orihime made them a bento lunch to share together. She was good at not trying to force her odd tastes on him, but she did always make one special dish for him in hopes of getting him to try it. Always without fail Ichigo found a way to get out of it. He loved her. He really did love her, but every time he thought of trying her own original creations his stomach leapt out of his body to run to the hills.

"I'm starting to get full. By the time I get done I won't have any room left for your special rice balls." That sounded so beautiful. It wasn't forced or high pitched. Orihime would buy it.

She did her best to hide her disappointment. He always found a way to worm out of trying her original creations. He promised her he would try at least one. "I can save it for you. That way you can try it as a snack." That was perfect. He didn't want to explore her original cooking for a big meal. That made sense. If he didn't like them then he would be stuck eating them because he had nothing else. If he had it for a snack there was no fear of having to like it or else he would have nothing else to eat.

Damn it! Ichigo searched his mind for any possible excuse to get out of trying the rice balls for a snack, but he was running a blank. Crap, he was going to have to try it. "Y-yeah," he said unenthusiastically. He was going to have to eat it. Ichigo knew he promised her he would, but he was just hoping to hold it off a bit longer than he did. Orihime became ecstatic. If his poor stomach turned against him, at least he was able to make her happy.

"You might as well try it, Ichigo. You're going to have to get used to Orihime's cooking in the future." Tatsuki had her trademark smirk on.

Good old Tatsuki. He could always count on her to kick him when he was down. "Shut up."

Tatsuki was like a dog with a bone. Now that she found it she wasn't going to let it go. "Considering you were thinking about the future I assumed Orihime's cooking would be one of them, especially if you plan to marry her." She watched as both orange heads became as red as tomatoes.

"Tatsuki-chan!" whined Orihime. This had been the latest game their friends had come up with. They would compare her and Ichigo to a married couple or ask them when they would get married. It was embarrassing. They were still in high school. They weren't ready for marriage! It wasn't like she opposed the idea. She had some fantasies of being his wife, but it was much too early for talk like that.

"I don't get why you two are getting all worked up," Keigo joined in. "You can't tell me you haven't thought of possibility of marriage in the future."

Mortified Ichigo couldn't even speak. One glance at Orihime told him she too was stricken with embarrassment as well.

Keigo continued, "I mean, your dad has pretty much adopted Inoue."

"They do have a surprisingly strong relationship," Mizuiro added. "It wouldn't be too out of place," he finished with a smirk. It was fun to see Ichigo sitting there speechless.

"It is nice to know you all are having a fun at our expense," Ichigo growled. His so called friends didn't lose their playful grins. Even Ishida had a half smirk! "You are all getting ahead of yourselves."

Orihime found her voice once more. "He's right. There is still a lot to things to worry about like graduation, college, careers." Thankfully the talk had shifted from them and to possible futures they would pursue after high school. Plans were mixed. People such as Ishida had everything mapped out for the universities he was interested in. There were other people like Keigo who were still trying to decide what type of career to pursue and what university he would want to go to.

"What about you, Ichigo?" Keigo asked the ex-substitute.

"I was planning on waiting for career counseling at the end of this term before I made any concrete plans." The truth was he still was unsure of what career path to take. Every time he tried to think of one it didn't feel right. "It's a difficult decision to make."

"Do you at least have some sort of idea?" Uryu posed a thoughtful question this time. "It would help you if you had a few ideas before you meet the counselor than if you just go over there with a blank slate."

He hated when Ishida was right. Ichigo wasn't going to let him know that. "I've got a few ideas." He stretched the truth a bit. The quincy didn't look convinced by his weak statement, but he didn't push the issue any further. Lunch was nearing its end and they started shuffling back to their respective classes. Chad hadn't shown up. It was decided that he was staying home. Before Orihime left, Ichigo stopped her. They were alone on the roof.

"What time do you go into work today?" he asked the healer.

"I go in at 4 today."

"Your job's not that far off from where Chad lives. After school we could go there and check on him."

"Huh?"

"Don't give me that. I know you're worried about him. We'll just visit him after school before we have to go into work." The clueless expression she wore was priceless. He could tell she had several questions forming in her head. The poor girl wasn't even sure what to ask first. "I know you well enough to know when you are worried about something. You get quiet and try to change the subject so you won't worry anyone else. I appreciate you trying not to make a big deal out of it for my sake, but there is no need to."

"It wasn't that," Orihime interrupted. He looked in her straight in the eye, challenging her. She folded. "Well it wasn't just that. Sado-kun doesn't have to be in trouble to have stayed home today. I was jumping the gun. I didn't want you to think I was silly." It was hard to keep looking him in the eye. His stare was pensive. He could see right through her.

"I'm not going to think you're silly." This time she was the one to silently challenge him. "Ok, so maybe I think you're a little silly, but not in a bad way. I get why you were concerned. You don't need to apologize for it. That's just who you are. We'll just make a quick visit to Chad's place to make sure he's ok. We can get his homework from his teacher and deliver it to him. If he's not there, we'll leave a note."

"You don't think it is too much to visit him after only missing one day?" She really didn't want him to think she was terribly silly for making such a fuss over Sado-kun missing a day of school.

"If it puts your mind at rest, then it can't be too much," stated Ichigo. Tenderness and affection swirled within her hazel eyes. She didn't say anything. They conveyed all they needed to say in the shared gaze. She knew even if he thought her silly at times that he wouldn't make light of fears that concerned the safety of their friends and family. That was the level of trust they had. He would let her know that. "We better head out now or we'll be late for class."

Orihime wondered what she did to deserve such an amazing boyfriend. The healer did hope whatever the future held that they would still be together.

* * *

><p>He couldn't believe this was happening. This shouldn't be happening. He shouldn't be running for his life. How could everything have gone so wrong? How could he be so stupid? It was just his luck that they were in the middle of nowhere. There was no one to hear his screams for miles and miles. There were no eyes to see the blood gushing out of his left shoulder.<p>

The only thing the man could do was run through the woods and hope his pursuer would lose track of him. That was still a possibility. It wasn't that much of a long shot. If he could get out of the woods he could make it to the road. If he got to the road he could find someone to help him. His pursuer wouldn't risk causing any trouble in plain sight. "I can make it. I can make it," he told himself. Fate didn't seem to agree. He tripped over a root. He cursed his luck. He hurried back to his feet and continued to run only to run straight into his pursuer.

A cold sweat of fear washed over his skin. Oh god, he was going to die. He was actually going to die. God dammit, he was going to die! "Fuck! I don't want to die!" he screamed. His pursuer smirked at him. "You think this is funny you sick bastard!? You think it's funny to have me run for my life!?" The bastard didn't say a damn word. "I trusted you! You said you would help me. You promised you could help me! Was that all a lie?"

"It wasn't a lie," the pursuer spoke at last.

"Bullshit! Why are trying to kill me?"

"You misunderstand. I am going to help you. I'll relieve you of all the suffering and pain. Your accursed life will end this day."

"You son…." He felt cold and hard steel go through his chest. Blood poured from his mouth.

"Your curse is now over, just as I promised." His pursuer was lost in darkness. Consciousness left him. The only thing that remained was his thoughts. The one thought that haunted him was perhaps the greatest one to plague man, why.

* * *

><p>When school ended Ichigo met up with Orihime to go to Chad's place. Once Keigo learned what he was doing, he stuck to him like glue. Orihime had apparently told Mizuiro. He decided to tag along as well. They became a foursome and trekked to Chad's place. Ishida and Tatsuki declined. He had a student council meeting to run and Tatsuki had to get to work.<p>

"Whatever Chad has I hope it's not contagious," Keigo said.

Ichigo rolled his eyes. It was starting already, Keigo's over the top drama. "If you are worried about getting sick why did you come?"

The loud mouth brunet hugged himself and stuck his bottom lip out. "I didn't want to be left out." Orihime felt pity for Keigo, while Ichigo thought he was being pathetic. "Besides, I want Chad to know I want him to get well."

"We aren't sure if he is sick or not though," Mizuiro pointed out.

"I hope he's not," Keigo added. "This is our final year together! We need to make all the time we have count! We need Chad here for that. It was bad enough that Rukia ditched us." He was bombarded by stupefied expressions from Mizuiro and Orihime. What did he say?

"Rukia didn't ditch us," Ichigo said. "She's not the shinigami in charge of Karakura Town. It's normal for her not to come here anymore. You can't really expect her to drop everything just to come to see us. Remember she is a shinigami. They really aren't supposed to have close contact with us humans anyway."

"I guess," Keigo pouted. "It still seems kind of cold. Don't you miss her?"

"Who could miss that pain in the ass? We said our goodbyes, so there is no reason to be sad or anything."

Unbeknown to him Orihime frowned. He was such a terrible liar. He never talked to her or anyone really about it, but she knew he missed Rukia dearly. If it wasn't for his pride and stubbornness he could at least write letters to her just as Orihime did.

"Not seeing Rukia is a good thing," Ichigo said, shocking his friends. In Orihime's case, it earned a disapproving scowl. "If she's not showing up here that means everything is alright in Soul Society. I would much rather live in peace for the rest of my life." It was sentiment they all agreed with, even begrudgingly. Ideally he would live the rest of his natural life not ever seeing Rukia again. That would be the sign that he would live as normal a life as he had envisioned. He didn't need to see that midget ever again. He didn't miss her. There was no reason to. This was how things were supposed to be. Whenever the image of the petite woman came to his mind he became aware of a gap in his heart. It was gap that hadn't been filled in a long time. A gentle squeeze brought him out of it though. He smiled when he looked down and saw her hand intertwined in his own.

"Son of a bitch!"

The foursome was startled by the outburst. Before their eyes were two people running toward them. One person was male. He wore a hood and was carrying something in his arms. The second person was a man chasing after him. The first man shoved Keigo out of his way without regret.

"Hey!" cried Keigo.

"Hey stop! Give me back my bag, asshole!" the second man yelled at the obvious thief.

It never failed. There was always some troublemaker causing mischief. Ichigo turned to Mizuiro and passed him his bag. "Hold on to this." He shot off like a rocket. Ichigo passed the victim and caught up to the thief within seconds. His physical body had reaped the benefits of his training. He was at his physical peak. Thankfully all the sports and clubs he participated in helped keep his body in shape. He grabbed the thief by the shoulder. As soon he turned around Ichigo rammed his fist straight into his cheek.

The guy collapsed like a ton of bricks. The idiot didn't know when to stay down. He got back up and pulled out a knife. He was a wannabe thug. The way he held on to that knife it was obvious he had never used it before. His grip was loose. If he had a blade he could knock the wannabe's knife right out of his hand without even trying.

The wannabe jabbed wildly at him. God, he was such an amateur it was embarrassing. Ichigo easily stopped it. The shock that decorated the thief's face was amusing. Another punch to the face was enough to lay him out on his ass. He took the bag back, kicked the knife away, and gave his most menacing glare. The wannabe scrambled away with his tail between his legs.

"Ichigo-kun!" cried Orihime. She ran up to him. When she saw the knife fear possessed her. She knew he could handle any street thug in a fight, but he wasn't invulnerable. He could still be stabbed.

"Don't worry, he didn't touch me," he reassured her. It was serious when she used his given name in front of their friends. She always made sure to use it when they were alone because she wanted to keep it special. When she saw there was nothing wrong with him the fear dissipated.

"Woah!" the man exclaimed. Ichigo was surprised the man had gotten his bag stolen. He was almost a tank. He was taller and bigger than Ichigo. He was definitely someone you probably wouldn't want to mess with unless you were strong. You'd think a wannabe like the thief would at least be intimidated by a man dressed in all black at least. "Holy shit man, that was awesome!" Ichigo retuned his bag to him. "Thanks." The man flashed him a grateful yet overly cheery grin. "You're hungry right? I'll treat you to ramen or something. How about it?" the man asked.

"No thanks." Mizuiro gave him back his bag. "If you want to repay me don't tell anybody I punched someone. It'd be a pain in the ass if I get yelled at for it."

"Oh? Ok…I see, that's too bad," the man said. He watched as his rescuer left along with his friends. He watched the group until they were out of sight. "Geez," he uttered. "You are a lot more careful than I thought, Kurosaki Ichigo." This was going to be more fun than he thought.

* * *

><p><strong>I adapted the rest of chapter 424, but worked hard to not make it an exact rehash. I created original scenes, alerted the existing ones, and added some characters thoughts or feelings to some of the stuff I took from that chapter. I see that a lot of people are following the story, which I'm happy about. I hope that you guys like this chapter. <strong>

**There will be changes to the arc to suit my purposes. I'm sure you noticed the original scene with some random person that was attacked. There will be some mystery here that you guys won't know about, since it won't have been in the manga/anime. You may have to stay on your toes. For the IchiHime fans I had some romance in this chapter. Their relationship will be one of the main focuses. Another focus will be the friendships that Ichigo, Orihime, Chad, and Uryu share specifically and how it plays a part in this story. Please leave some reviews.**


	3. Life in the Void

**The next chapter is here. I had problems with my internet. While MasterQwester worked her magic to fix the chapter up swiftly my issues kept the chapter from going out early. I feel bad not getting up sooner since she worked so fast. So times it can't be helped.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach in any way or from. I do however; own some original characters I did create.**

* * *

><p>Everything was dark. He couldn't see anything at all. He couldn't even see his own nose. Where on earth was? Or was this even earth? He wasn't standing in white sand, so it wasn't Hueco Mundo. Yet he saw none of the structures or buildings that Soul Society housed. Could he be in between the worlds, like the Dangai? No, that couldn't be it either. He never had a problem seeing within Dangai before. Where ever he was Ichigo knew he couldn't just stand there. That wouldn't solve anything.<p>

He took a step forward or what he thought was forward. Ichigo walked in hopes of either finding some clue to his current location or finding a way out of this eternal darkness. He didn't understand how hollows and arrancars could live in such dark places. The solitude alone would drive him insane. The ex-substitute took step after step, yet his position hadn't changed in the slightest. How long had he been walking? He didn't know. The back of his legs were starting to burn, indicating that he had been walking for much longer than he realized.

If a pin was dropped the orange haired man was sure that he would hear it drop. All he saw was darkness. No matter how far he walked the only thing he met was darkness. He couldn't see anything. He couldn't hear anything. He couldn't even feel anything. There was only nothingness. The longer he stayed there the harder it was for Ichigo to remember the beautiful blue sky or the incredible warmth of the sun. The sensations of pain or cold were becoming harder for him the fathom. He had to scream to prove to himself that he existed. When he opened his mouth and tried to scream, no sound came out. Why couldn't he make a sound!? Could he make a sound and his ears had gone deaf? He shouted again and again, but the results were the same as before.

Fear as primal and as powerful as the one he had felt so long ago in battles long since passed started to slowly consume him. No! This wasn't going to happen! Ichigo broke into a run. He ignored the burning he felt in his legs and pushed through. He ran as fast as his legs would go. He had to get out of here. He couldn't stay there and be swallowed up by darkness. He refused to give up his existence. Why wasn't he getting anywhere?! Soon even the pain in his legs disappeared. What should have been a relief only empowered the fear he felt.

This was utter madness! He couldn't feel anything now. He pinched himself and felt nothing. He bit his tongue, but there was no pain. He was so desperate that he resorted to hugging himself, yet he couldn't even feel his own arms. What was going on? If he could call for help….wait that was it. He needed to call for help. He hurriedly dug into his pocket, but he couldn't feel his cellphone. He turned his pockets inside out and couldn't find anything. Fear was transforming into a more sinister and powerful emotion, terror. There was nothing he could do. He was nothing!

What if he never got out of here? What if he never saw Karin and Yuzu again? What if he never saw his dad again? How would the handle if he never came back? He couldn't do that to them, no after they lost his mother. His friends and Urahara would do something, right? What if they couldn't find him? Urahara wasn't all knowing. He failed to restore his shinigami powers after all. It was possible he could fail to locate Ichigo. Shit! He couldn't let his doubts win out. He had to keep faith in them. He couldn't think about not seeing everyone he loved again. He couldn't accept defeat. He wasn't going to roll over. He could do this. He could get out of this. He was Kurosaki Ichigo. He had to find the strength to go on.

Darkness remained. He ran and ran, but it didn't make a difference at all. Despite all of that he wasn't fatigued. That worried him even more. The monster known as terror whispering lies into his heart. The lies told him he would never get out of it. He would forever be imprisoned here. He would die in this darkness. He would be loss in the void. The ex-substitute was ashamed to admit this, but the lies were starting to make him doubt if he could escape.

"How long are you going to sleep, Ichigo?"

That voice! He heard that. He was positively elated. He could hear someone. No, it wasn't just someone. That voice was familiar. It was one he hadn't heard in a long time.

"I'm going to wake you up with my fist!"

Renji! It was Renji. While he could hear the loud mouth he couldn't see him. Just hearing that voice was enough to instill hope within him.

"Are you not going to wake up, Kurosaki Ichigo?"

Byakuya was there too. What the hell was going on? He hadn't seen or heard of them for a year and half yet now here they were in this void with him. How could they see him, but he still could not see them? It was all so frustratingly confusing.

"You fool!"

At the sound of that voice he lost his breath. It couldn't be. He hadn't heard that voice in so long, but he would always know it in his soul. Terror that possessed him had been banished. There was still fear in it, but it was an entirely different c. It was fused with another creature that could cut just as deep, if not deeper than fear. It was hope.

"Get up, Ichigo!" she commanded.

He called out to her only to discover his voice was still stolen. The seeds of hope that had just been buried were ripped away. Ichigo urgently called back to Rukia, but it was no good. Why was his voice still gone?

"Get up already, Ichigo!" Rukia demanded.

Couldn't she see he was trying? Why didn't she try to help him? Why weren't any of them trying to help him?

"Ichigo!" she cried.

What the hell did she think he was doing!? Why couldn't he make her hear him? Why couldn't he answer them?

"Ichigo!" they all exclaimed.

He was there! He was right there listening to them. Why couldn't they hear him? He was right there screaming as loud as he could.

"Ichigo!"

"I warned you, Ichigo," a solemn, yet warm voice spoke.

The former vizard knew that voice all too well. What in the world was Zangetsu doing there as well?

"You used it," Zangetsu continued.

What on earth was he talking about? He used what? He was just wallowing around in darkness. He hadn't used anything.

"You used the Final Getsuga Tensho. I warned you if you used it that you would lose all of your shinigami powers."

He didn't need to hear that again. He understood the price. He knew he would lose his powers if he used the Final Getsuga Tensho, but there was no other way to defeat Aizen. He didn't see the need for Zangetsu to go over this again.

"You used that technique and lost all of your shinigami powers. Don't you understand?"

No. He didn't understand any of this. He wished Zangetsu would get to the point already.

"When you lost your shinigami powers, you also loss your ties to that world. You cannot speak to them, because you have no place with them," the zanpakuto spirit stated sadly. "You're place is here in the void."

What? He was supposed to stay in this place, the void? Zangetsu was wrong. That wasn't the price. He lost his shinigami powers, but that didn't mean he would be trapped in this place of darkness. That wasn't part of the price.

"Ichigo!" a new voice cried out. "Wake up, we need you!"

Was that Chad? Chad was here as well.

"What the hell are you doing, Kurosaki!?"

Now he heard Ishida. If he was here than that meant that she was there too.

"Ichigo-kun! Wake up, Ichigo-kun! Please wake up!" a terrified Orihime called out to him.

Terror had closed its grip onto him again. They were in danger. He had to do something. Where were they? He tried to follow the voices, but that did no good. He couldn't find them. Every time he opened his mouth to ask where they were no words came out.

"Ichigo-kun!"

They needed him and he was stuck in this stupid void. Why couldn't he get to where they were? Why could he hear them, but they couldn't hear him? What the hell was going on? He needed to get out of the void. He needed to get there and save them. He had to protect them!

"Ichigo-kun," her voice beseeched him once more.

Where was she? He couldn't let her down. He refused to fail her again.

"Ichigo-kun, wake up," Orihime urged.

Why did everyone keep telling him that? He was up!

"Wake up."

He was up.

"You have to get up," her voice grew louder. "Ichigo-kun, you have to wake up."

Darkness was gone. It was replaced by her smiling face. He shot up so fast that she barely had time to get out of his way. He, or rather they, were in his room. He could feel the sun's warm embrace bathe him. His ears picked up the rustling going on downstairs. His fingers could feel his skin. All his of senses had returned to him or maybe they were never gone to begin with. It was a dream. None of it had been real. "Damn," cursed the orange haired man.

"What's wrong?" Thanks to his little overreaction Orihime's normally loving gaze was contaminated with worry and fear. "You looked so startled."

"Bad dream," he told her truthfully.

"What was it about?"

"I was trapped in darkness, a void. I couldn't do anything. I was nothing." He hoped that satisfied her. He didn't want to go into further detail. The dream felt so real. It was bleak, but he had no idea what it meant exactly. Was it an omen of things to come? God help him if it was. Orihime said nothing. She rested her forehead on his. He didn't know when he wrapped his arms around her or when they fell back to his bed. They stayed like that for a good minute basking in each other's presence. His breathing slowed down. He hadn't even realized he was out of breath.

"Are you alright?" she ventured, breaking the comforting silence that surrounded them.

"Yeah," he replied. "Yeah, I'm fine now. It was just…It felt so real."

"I understand completely." Of course she would. The nightmares she had when they first came home from Hueco Mundo had plagued her for months before she talked about it and let them help her. If anyone understood just how powerful a nightmare could be it was her.

Her nightmares were based on trauma she had experienced. His nightmare was just some absurdity. He couldn't make sense of it. He made a conscious decision to put it out of his mind. There were other things he needed to concern himself with. A perfect example was the woman in his arms right now. "Why are you here?" That sounded so bad. He didn't want her to think he wasn't happy to see her. "I mean when did you get here? I'm usually up when you come over for breakfast. Did I sleep in?" The last thing he needed was to be running late.

"You didn't sleep in," the healer assured him. "I just came by earlier today because Yuzu-chan needed to borrow some rice for breakfast. She didn't have time to go shopping yesterday. I wanted to be here by the time she usually makes breakfast, so everything would be on time."

Why didn't Yuzu ask him to go to store? He could have done that after work. Ikumi-san's latest client was right by a grocery store too.

"I convinced Isshin-san to let me wake you up instead of him. I thought I would be gentler than Isshin-san." Gentler was an understatement. She had witnessed Isshin-san's wake up calls with her own eyes. Frankly they were attacks. Ichigo's retaliations often led to serious injuries for Isshin-san.

"Thank you for getting my dad to back off this morning. He can be exhausting," Ichigo complained. He much preferred Orihime's method. Not only was it gentler, it was also a much better sight. It had been a while since he got to sit back and admire her beauty. She was as stunning as ever.

"You know you have to get up," she remained him. He didn't respond. The only way he was going to get up was if she got him up. Orihime wiggled her way out his arms. "Ichigo-kun, you have to get up or you'll be late." The orange haired man didn't stir, causing her to frown. "Get up! You have to brush your teeth, shave, shower, and all the other things."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," he muttered. "We have some time though. It's not even 7'oclock yet. Why not lay down with me?"

"We can't. Karin-chan got out of the bathroom when I came in here. If you get up now you could still get hot water." The healer sang the last part in hopes of enticing him. Finally he got up to her joy.

"Alright, alright, I'm getting up." He picked out some clothes and made his way to the door before a wicked idea formed in his head. "Since Karin got done earlier today there is bound to be more hot water."

Not sure where he was going with this Orihime nodded along. "My dad is already down stairs. Why not join?" He lowered his voice seductively. Her eyes doubled in size. He did not just ask her that! "What's with that face? You know we have taken showers together before."

But not in his house! They had never been so bold before! There were so many things that could go wrong. What if Karin or Yuzu caught them coming out together? What if his father caught them? She could never look at any of them in the eye again. She didn't want them to think badly of her. "We can't!"

"Why not?"

Was he really asking her that!? Those chocolate colored eyes she loved so much were roaming over her body. There was nothing innocent about his gaze at all. He had more than a shower on his mind. "B-because," she defended weakly. "It may lead to something more than a shower."

"Is that a bad thing?"

"Ichigo-kun!" Her cheeks were on fire. They were never going to regain their original color again. Those sinful lips curved upward. He was teasing her. Her deadpan, almost humorless boyfriend had fun at her expense. "That's not funny." She was still blushing and his smirk remained when he went through the door. She was going to get him back. At least he bounced back to his normal self. She could feel his fear as soon as his eyes opened. It was more than just fear. There was something around him. It was something faint, something almost familiar, yet foreign. _'Could it be reiatsu?'_

* * *

><p>It had been a normal morning at the Kurosaki household. Yuzu had prepared breakfast as usual with some help from Orihime. Karin provided her unique brand of commentary on everything had been going on around her. Isshin had launched a sneak attack against his eldest child. The eldest child had turned it around and sent him flying down the stairs. It was a normal morning for the Kurosaki family anyway. Yuzu had prepared fish to go with the rice. It smelled delicious.<p>

They gave their thanks to the young cook and ate. No one could bake fish like Yuzu. She added so much flavor that it simply made taste buds spin. Baked fish was one of Yuzu's best dishes in Orihime's opinion. It melted into your mouth. It was scrumptious. "This is so goooooood," sang Orihime. "You've out done yourself, Yuzu-chan!"

The younger girl became withdrawn at such praise. Every time Orihime tasted her cooking she would always give Yuzu heaps of praise. In her eyes Yuzu was the best chef in the world. "Thank you, Onee-chan, but you are making too much out of me."

"Nonsense!" objected Isshin. "Your cooking is simply astounding, Yuzu. Your mother would be proud of how far your cooking has advanced. In fact I would say that you have surpassed her."

Yuzu almost burst from happiness. Her father had given her the highest praise he could give her. No one built up or praised her mother, Kurosaki Masaki, as much as her father did. In his eyes, she could do no wrong. She was a saint. That much was obvious considering how her dad put a giant poster of his wife on the wall. For her father to say she had surpassed her mother meant the world to her. It gave her a sense that she shared something with her deceased mother. "Thank you, Dad."

Seeing his little girl's glow at the comparison to her mother brought nothing but joy to Isshin. He wished that Masaki could have seen the girls grow. "How are my girls enjoying junior high?" This elicited two varied reactions from his daughters. Yuzu was like a ball of electricity, while Karin was dull and unattached, just like Ichigo was, much to Isshin's dismay. Yuzu had made friends quickly with her new classmates. She made a good impression on her teacher on the first day. She was on the fast track to an exciting school year. Karin made a few friends and ran into old ones, but she didn't have the passion that Yuzu had. Unlike her more emotive counterpart Karin took everything in stride. He hoped she opened up more and would not be a stick in the mud like her brother.

The shinigami turned doctor turned to the carrot top teens. "How are studies going for you two?" Isshin asked. "Are you enjoying your final year so far?"

"So far things are good," Ichigo answered. "We're only a week in so nothing has really happened."

"You did help the basketball team win a big game last weekend," Orihime reminded.

"Oh yeah I forgot about that!" Some father he was. He forgot his only son's big game. It was bad enough he had to miss it because of a conference, but to forget to even ask was unforgivable. "How was the game anyway? Did you win? Wait, of course you won that's what Orihime just said. Since she said you helped them win that must mean you played well." The black haired man let out a agonized growl. "I'm so useless! How could I forget about your game? I'll make it up to you. How about I get you something like that new Tekken game you were interested in?"

Ichigo couldn't believe his father was getting himself so worked up over a game. It wasn't even like Ichigo was really part of the team. He only joined them for a week because they paid him to do it. He felt guilty that his old man was taking it so hard. "It's no big deal. I mean I'm not even a real member on the team. You don't have to apologize for not going." His words had the opposite effect on his father. He looked at Ichigo as if he was demented.

"There is no need to try to make me feel better. I failed you as a father last week. I should have been at the game or the very least asked you about it as soon as possible. Now to protect my feelings you act like it's not a big deal. You are a far better son than I deserve!"

"Really, it's no big deal," Ichigo insisted. He prayed his father didn't pull out the water works.

"It is a very big deal!" exclaimed the doctor. "I was the only one who didn't go too wasn't I?" He received confirmation of this by his girls' awkward attempts to avoid his eyes. "PLEASE FORGIVE ME?"

"Cut it out already! I told you it wasn't a big deal. You had to go to a conference last week! It couldn't be helped. The fact that I didn't mention it at all should tell you that I don't hold it against you…" The next thing he knew his father's arms were around him and he sobbed into Ichigo's ear. He forgot just how fast his father actually was. He acted like a clown, but underneath the surface was a trained warrior. Sometimes he found it hard to imagine how the giant of a goof he had known his whole life was also the same man who appeared before him against Aizen.

"Forgive me! Forgive me! Forgive me! Forgive me!" chanted a sobbing Isshin. He squeezed his son as hard as he could. His bear like strength had escaped his mind. Ichigo was struggling just to breath. The mindless sobbing irritated the younger man's ears. "Please forgive me, Son!"

Yuzu, Karin, and Orihime became worried when they saw the color slowly start to fade from Ichigo's face. "Dad!" shouted Karin. "He can't breathe!"

Karin's cries went unheard. Isshin continued to squeeze his son even tighter.

"Isshin-san, you are choking him!" Orihime tried.

"Dad!" shouted Yuzu.

Ichigo took matters into his own hands. With his remaining strength he slammed his head against his father's. The force was so great that he was forced to let Ichigo go. His lungs took as much oxygen as they could. "Wh…what the hell….is your problem?" he yelled. "I almost suffocated you know!" He glared daggers at his father.

Isshin nursed his poor forehead. It stung worse than any punch he had ever experienced. He knew Ichigo was hard headed, but he didn't think it was quite so literal. "Did you have to head butt me?"

"Serves, you right! Now that I think about it I owed you for when you head butted me!"

"You've been holding a grudge for that long!?" Isshin cried in both pain and anger. "It was almost a year and a half ago!"

"That doesn't mean it didn't hurt! You head butted me for no real reason! I did it to save my life!" Anger continued to flare up and drive his actions. He wasn't backing down from this one. He wasn't going to be the one to apologize either. His father opened his mouth, but said nothing. Strangely enough the anger his father had disappeared instantly. The brown eyes looking at him held no anger only shock. Caught off guard the ex-substitute lost his anger as well. He could only stare back with confusion. "What?" Ichigo blurted out.

"Are you feeling well?" There was no trace of the playful humor or energetic nature that his father was known for. There was a sense of wonder and concern laced within his words. It was worrisome.

"Yes, I'm fine," Ichigo spoke slowly. He didn't understand why his father's personality changed so suddenly. He only stopped wearing that carefree buffoonish mask when it was something serious. He wasn't alone in his astonishment. Orihime, Karin, and Yuzu were all looking at his dad as if he was someone else. "Dad?"

"Are you sure?" Isshin asked again.

"Yes. Everything is fine with me. Are you alright?" he turned the question back on his father.

Isshin dismissed his question with a nod of his head. "You should probably get going to school. You don't want to be late. Hurry up and finish your meal." Once again there was nothing of their usual father in his words. While gazes were locked on him he ignored them and continued to eat. Realizing they weren't going to get any answers from him the Kurosaki clan resumed their meals. Ichigo couldn't forget the sudden change in his father. He didn't feel like his father was so much as looking at him, but rather through him. The question was what did he see?

* * *

><p>Despite the abnormal morning the rest of the day had played out normal for the most part. They took an exam on last week's lesson. The in depth review from yesterday made more sense. He passed with an 88, much to Keigo's frustration. He passed with an 80, but since he paid more attention yesterday than Ichigo did in class he was boggled by how he did worse. Keigo didn't stop complaining until lunch. Chad was missing again. Evidently he missed another day. Chad wasn't the only one missing. Ishida hadn't shown up either. According to Tatsuki he was at school earlier. He most likely got called away to deal with more hollows.<p>

Ichigo was a bit worried that his rival was overdoing it. He may have had a deal with Soul Society going on, but Ichigo wasn't sure to the terms of the deal was. If Ishida went out too much they may get upset with him. Given the problematic history between the shinigami and quincy, the ex-substitute didn't like to think what they might do if they felt Ishida's hollow hunting was endangering the balance of souls.

Orihime was more concerned by Chad than Ishida. They were planning on stopping by his place again in hopes that he would be there this time. Ichigo wasn't worried. Chad was probably at home, but too exhausted to get up to answer the door. The afternoon came and went. School was over, yet he was still in his seat. It was time for business to open up.

Students from various teams and clubs gathered around his desk offering to pay for his services. It was a profitable little side business. Sometimes he was surprised by how much clubs and teams were willing to spend just to get a ringer. The basketball team had given him 9000 yen for just one week of basketball. If he had multiple teams and clubs trying to outbid each other as he had now he could make out like a bandit.

The current club was the baseball team. They had Haga Izo representing them. He was the person who inspired Ichigo to start his side business when he offered to pay Ichigo money to fill in for a baseball team member last year. He was a nice kid who also helped to dispel the illusion of him being a thug when he told his friends that Ichigo rescued him from real thugs.

"We are willing to pay 5000 yen for three days," Izo pleaded. The poor boy looked like he was seconds away from getting on his hands and knees. It was generous offer, but he could get more. Izo was desperate. The baseball club had proven to be willing to pay at least twice that if they were in a real pinch.

"I'll consider it," Ichigo said. Izo fell apart on the scene. He whimpered away with his tail between his legs. Ichigo felt a little bad, but he had to be heartless or he would get steamrolled.

The captain of the kendo team eagerly took Izo's place. "We're going to cut to the chase, Kurosaki. We're willing to pay you 7000 for two weeks." The man flashed a cocky grin.

Ichigo rolled his eyes. "Next."

"W-what? H-how come?" he asked.

"Get real. 7000 for two whole weeks is an insult. I can make twice that with other clubs and teams together. 7000 on a good day could get you a week. You need to at least double that."

The kendo captain's mouth fell open. "Be reasonable, Kurosaki. You want us to pay you 14000 yen for two whole weeks! We can't get that kind of money."

"Stop wasting my time and get out of line then," Ichigo said harshly.

"W-what about 8000?" the kendo captain tried.

Ichigo responded, "Next." The next person up was a burly looking second year student on the karate team. He was incredibly stiff and flushed. He had a rough and worn out looking face. He reminded him of Sui Feng's vice-captain a bit. "So how much are you offering?" he asked

The underclassmen held out five fingers and said, "5000 yen for the week."

"5000 yen for one week!" That was even worse than the last offer. What the hell was wrong with these people? At least Izo had enough sense to offer him 5000 for a few days. "Give me a break! Next!" A blond first year student stepped up. He could tell the kid was nervous. Judging by his uniform he was from the soccer team.

"I am vice-president of the soccer team!" A vice-president, so he was older than he looked. "We would like to enlist your help, Kurosaki-senpai!"

Losing patience Ichigo interrupted him. If he wanted to hear his life story he would have asked. "Look just tell me what you're willing pay and for how long."

"Y-yes, I mean will do, Kurosaki-senpai!"

The ex-substitute groaned. "Cut it out with that senpai stuff and just tell me the job."

Off to the side Keigo and Mizuiro watched their friend extort all the clubs and teams Karakura High had to offer. They were still flabbergasted at how ruthless Ichigo was. Granted they knew their friend wasn't a pushover, but seeing him work the clubs and teams was going a bit overboard.

"Was Ichigo always this concerned for money?" a stunned Keigo asked.

Mizuiro was on his phone, texting someone that Keigo was willing to bet was one of his female companions. "Well you have to consider that we're graduating this year. He may be saving up money so he can move out and get his own place."

"You think he's going to move out?" If Ichigo moved out they would never see him again. They barely saw him and he was only working. The prospect of losing Ichigo forever sent him into a downward spiral misery.

"Well, I don't know for sure," Mizuiro admitted in an attempt to defuse Keigo before he went off. "I'm not sure Ichigo's dad would lend him money to do stuff, so I think it's a good idea to save up for money while he can. At least that way he has options."

"That's probably it." There was also the fact that Ichigo was one of three. If he moved out it would probably be rough on his father to help Ichigo out and care for his sisters. Keigo remembered how difficult it was for his parents to help his sister out when she moved out.

"Thank you very much!" they heard. The soccer team had successfully won the bidding war and hired Ichigo. The other clubs and teams wept.

Ichigo came up to them trying way too hard to look good in Mizuiro's opinion. "Decided to go with the soccer team," he heard Keigo say. "How much did you get out of them?"

"It's a secret," Ichigo stated.

"When do you start?" Mizuiro inquired.

"Today," the ex-substitute merely replied.

"Wait you start today?" Keigo frowned.

"Yes."

"Don't you have to work today?"

"I'll do both."

Doubt radiated from Keigo's gaze. "You are going to work both jobs today." Keigo didn't even try to hide the skepticism he felt.

"It will be fine. I'll just call Ikumi-san and tell her I'll be in late today."

"Good luck," Keigo and Mizuiro chorused together.

"It's going to be fine," Ichigo insisted. Everything would be fine wouldn't it? Ikumi-san wouldn't blow up too bad if he came in later, would she? Suddenly his plan to work both jobs didn't seem like such a good idea.

* * *

><p>"Oh my god, Inoue-senpai is so hot!" a boy bellowed to his friend.<p>

"Ugh, I know. She's not called the Goddess of Karakura High for nothing. I would love to be her boyfriend or at least spend a night with her."

"You're a moron. You know she's dating Kurosaki-senpai. If he heard you say that he would kill you."

"Crap, I forgot about that! Pretend this conversation never happened." They both tried to look as casual as they could, while Inoue Orihime and her raven haired friend walked past them. The raven haired girl shot them a dark look. They gulped. They heard that she came in second place in the whole country in national martial arts tournament. They didn't wish to get on her bad side in addition to Kurosaki Ichigo's.

"Tatsuki-chan?" The healer wasn't sure why she was scowling at their junior students.

"I'm listening." They continued to walk. "You were saying that Ichigo's dad was acting weird."

Orihime frowned. Tatsuki wasn't taking this seriously. "Tatsuki-chan!"

"What?" she groaned.

"Stop taking it lightly."

"Look I'm sorry, but this is Ichigo's dad we're talking about. He has one of the biggest hearts you'll ever see, but the man is a giant kid. He is all over the place. He acts weird."

"Not like this morning," Orihime defended. "Isshin-san can be a bit eccentric." She was proud that she found a word that perfectly captured Isshin-san's spirit without insulting him. "This morning he became so unsettling."

That had piqued Tatsuki's interest. Of all the words she could think of to describe Kurosaki Isshin, unsettling was not one of them. "What you do mean exactly? What did he do?"

"He and Kurosaki-kun got into argument like they always do, but he stopped suddenly. He gave Kurosaki-kun a strange look. It was one of those long, hard looks that make you uncomfortable. He kept asking if Kurosaki-kun was alright."

"Is something wrong with Ichigo?" Tatsuki asked.

Orihime had no idea how to answer that. She felt something out of place with her beloved this morning. It didn't feel bad or anything. His aura was thrown off. It felt so familiar, but she couldn't be sure what it was yet.

"Orihime?" Tatsuki called. "What aren't you telling me?"

"Does Kurosaki-kun feel different to you?" Her old protector raised a questioning eyebrow at her. "This morning it was only for a brief moment, but I felt something was a bit off," she explained. "Did you feel anything like that today?"

"No. He still feels like the same dumbass as always." Tatsuki wasn't sure what her pseudo sister was talking about. Ichigo acted the same. Nothing felt or looked out of place to her this morning. "Did you try talking to Ishida about this?"

Ishida-kun! He was the person to talk to. If anyone was good at reading a person and subtle changes they might be going through, it was Ishida-kun. "That's a good idea, Tatsuki-chan!" The problem was she wasn't sure where he was. The healer would have to pinpoint his reiatsu with her sixth sense and track him down. With any luck he was still on campus. That was no good. She and Ichigo were going to Sado-kun's place to check on him again. She had a shift at the bakery to work as well. "I'll have to ask him the next time I see him."

"Where is Ichigo anyway?" Tatsuki asked when they came outside.

"He's going to be on the field with the soccer team." He had texted her to let her know of his new contract and where to meet him. "He should be….right there." She would recognize that cute scowl anywhere. She would recognize the scowl and the calves anywhere. Ichigo always looked good in those form fitting uniforms. He had great legs. It was such a shame he didn't show them off more often. The shorts he was wearing now thankfully corrected that. She loved when he wore uniforms.

Tatsuki still found it surprising to see her innocent Orihime ogle so brazenly. She really did have a uniform fetish. The raven haired woman thought part of the reason Ichigo took all those jobs was because he knew the uniforms were a turn on for Orihime. "What about the basketball club?"

Ichigo stretched his body out. "My contract ended last week. What about you? What happened to your extracurricular activities?"

"I've got work," she answered plainly. "I've been a substitute instructor at the dojo since last month."

His face scrunched up. "You're an instructor? Damn, I'm glad I quit the dojo. I'd really hate to have to call you sensei."

She gave him the most evil glare she could, if looks could kill he would be dead thrice over. "How about I make you call me that right now?"

Sensing a storm in the making Orihime acted quickly. She always found herself in the role of mediator between Ichigo and Tatsuki. It wasn't an easy position either. She couldn't stand to see two of the people she loved most at each other's throats. "Tatsuki-chan, shouldn't we be getting ready for work? We only stopped by for a visit and to ask about Sado-kun."

She could see from their expressions that they had forgotten about Sado-kun. "You're right," she heard Tatsuki admit. "We don't really have too much time. We better get going."

Orihime said her goodbyes to Ichigo when a realization came over her. "Don't you have to go into work today?" she asked Ichigo.

"I'm planning on going in late."

Tatsuki and Orihime were dumbfounded by what he said. Why was everyone doing that? It wasn't like he said he was going to slap his boss in the face or anything that outrageous. He was only going in later today. "You think that is a good idea?" Tatsuki barely stifled back a laugh. "You know how your boss can get."

"It's no problem. Ikumi-san only gets upset if I ditch work entirely. As long as I come in it should be fine." It would be fine. Ikumi was reasonable to a certain extent, sometimes.

The auburn healer had cast an anxious look at him. With her eyes being so emotive he could feel his heart strings being plucked at mercilessly. It was almost as bad as the one she gave him when he battled Grimmjow or Ulquiorra. "I really don't think you should test Ikumi-san." Having met with Ichigo's boss a few times she knew the woman was someone not to be tested with. Unfortunately her stubborn boyfriend insisted on testing her anyway. It led to painful and humiliating moments for him. "Did you at least check if it was ok with her first?"

"I was just about to call her before practice." Both girls winced as he said the words. It was going to be fine. Ikumi would understand. The more times he thought that the more he wondered if that was truly going to be the case.

"You really are asking for it," Tatsuki said with exasperation. "Good luck with that. You are going to need it."

Orihime gave him a hopeful smile, but her hazel eyes were still laced with fear. There was a chance that calling his boss to tell her he was coming in late was a bad idea. He called her up only to be answered with, "WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU!?" It was a terrible idea.

* * *

><p><strong>I wasn't too sure about this chapter to be honest. I felt like it was too close to chapter 425 for my tastes, but I did work hard to alter it here. At the same time I didn't want to completely change everything. I did my best to expand some things like Ichigo's dream. A few scenes were added like Kurosaki family breakfast and Orihime and Tatsuki's discussion. There was of course some fluff here as well. I feel more confident about the next chapter will introduce more new elements and blend 1 year and 5 months universe more into the LSS arc than this chapter. I did like bringing back Izo. He was a minor original character introduced in 1 year, but wanted him to make a cameo. <strong>

**I do hope you guys at least like the chapter. I know it is a slow build up, but it is necessary. The plot still being set and plot points are going to established in these chapters that will be important to the story as a whole. Thank you for reading and please review. **


	4. The Unexpected Development

**I know it's been a long time since my last update. Really I can only say life got in the way and was backed up working on other stuff, some school related and some other stories. I really did want to have uploaded this sooner. Actually I had hoped to have at least 6 chapters up now, but stuff happens. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach in anyway or form.**

* * *

><p>Hiyori was losing her patience. Why did people have to be so stupid? It was like everyone came together and decided that they would conspire just to piss her off. That had to be it. She refused to believe society had declined so much that it produced this brand of indecisiveness. Of course everyone would just say it was her problem. They would say she was just irritable, but she wasn't. It wasn't her fault that people did stupid things that pissed her off. It wasn't!<p>

Who the hell needed to spend ten minutes trying to decide what type of candy they wanted!? A minute she could forgive. Two or three minutes weren't so bad, but ten whole minutes was fucking retarded. Anyone who spent five minutes trying to pick out candy should go kill themselves for failing at life. She couldn't say any of this though. Oh, no because she was a clerk at a damn candy shop! Part of her job was to keep her mouth shut and let people be idiots. Why did she take this job again?

"Umm," the boy spoke. "Which one do you recommend?"

It took every ounce of Hiyori's willpower not to reach out and strangle the boy. It wasn't easy. The boy didn't make it easy. Not when the only thing standing between them was counter and he was holding in his hand two candy bars that were essentially the same. "What's the difference?" she blurted out. The little shit had to nerve to look at her as if she had slapped him in the face. If he wanted to make that face she would give him a reason to make that face.

"How can you say that?" the boy screeched, hurting Hiyori's ears. "This one is caramel flavored chocolate." He practically shoved the candy bar in her face. She almost slapped it, but restrained herself by reminding herself that he was a little kid. "This one is peanut butter chocolate." He shoved the other candy bar in her face. "They are totally different! How can you work at this store and not know that? You should be an expert in candy," the boy complained.

"Which do you prefer than, caramel or peanut butter?" Hiyori had to force the words out without raising her volume. To her horror he actually had to stop to think!

"That's a good question. Peanut butter candy is so common. You can get it almost anywhere, but I really do love it. It just blends perfectly with the chocolate without totally overpowering it, but caramel is really, really, good too. It's more expensive than the peanut butter candy. You sell them here really cheap, so I always like to buy some when I come. On the other hand sometimes it can be overpowering. I mean caramel can totally overpower the chocolate and sometimes you just feel like eating caramel not chocolate."

She couldn't believe it. The boy was a complete moron. He was actually comparing and contrasting caramel chocolate and peanut butter chocolate. He wouldn't shut up. The vizard girl could feel her rage come to life. It was almost like one of those out of body experiences that people claimed to have. She could see herself pull on her pigtails and grab the boy by the scruff of his shirt. "Listen you little shit! I didn't fucking ask you to regale me with a critique about caramel chocolate and peanut butter chocolate. I asked you which one you liked more and to decide on what to buy! It's not complicated. It is fucking candy for the sake of God! You have been here for twelve minutes now trying to pick one!"

So that was how she sounded when she was pissed. The boy was quivering so much she could swear she heard his teeth chattering and his bones shake with him. The boy was so going to piss himself from fright. "Pick out a damn candy already and quit wasting my time!" Hastily the boy threw one candy bar on the counter along with his money. "Now, the next time you come in here get your head out of your ass and make a god damn decision before you come in here!"

"Y-y-yesssss!" The boy grabbed the candy bar and bolted out of the shop without ever looking back.

"Hiyori," a booming voice said. It was resonated throughout the shop. Hiyori became rigid as soon as she heard him. Of all the people to have observed her transaction with that boy, why did it have to be Tessai? Couldn't she catch a break at all that day? Hiyori forced herself to turn around and look the former captain of the Kido Corps in his eyes. His eyebrows furrowed so hard that she could see creases on his face. Worse yet he had his arms crossed, which harkened back to her old academy days when her instructors would scold her for acting out.

"How long have you been there?" she questioned. She did her best to suppress her fear. She hated to admit it, but Tessai could strike fear in her with just a look.

"Long enough to see you drive away a customer," Tessai answered curtly. She could feel the venom spewed from his short reply penetrating her skin. "You can't just scare away customers," he scolded. "Our livelihood depends on our customers. It is our duty to create a welcoming atmosphere to attract customers and bring them back. After your little stunt that boy won't ever return."

That was good news to Hiyori. They wouldn't have to deal with him in the future. "Do you even care?" Tessai half questioned and half accused. The Soul King knew the girl was hard headed. He couldn't understand why Kisuke put up with her. His anger increased when he caught a glimpse of Hiyori's eyes rolling. That set him off. Before either of them knew it his fist had struck her in the head. Tessai liked to think he was an understanding and patient man under normal circumstances. Seeing Hiyori so blatantly tuning him out made him lash out. He had enough of that bad attitude with Jinta.

"You hit me," Hiyori stated in complete shock. She stared at the large man as if he was out of his right mind. Her shock faded and rage took command of her body. "What the hell is your problem!?" she shouted. "You can't go around hitting a lady you know! That is damn right disrespectful!"

"What lady?" an irritating voice said. Hiyori groaned. He was there too? The day couldn't get any worse could it? "Eh, don't tell me you're talking about you?" the voice continued. Ugh. He really made her sick. "You ain't no lady. You don't got tits or anything."

That tore it. Tessai could wait. She turned away from the shopkeeper to face Jinta. This was coming for a long time. "Shit head! Don't start spouting off at the mouth about stuff you don't have clue about!"

That smug look was gone. Anger shaded his face red. That brat had gotten too full of himself just because he had gotten taller. He was still a child as far as she was concerned. It wasn't fair that a shit head like Jinta had grown so tall, while a woman such as her remained stunted. "Did you just call me shit head!?" he yelled.

"Are your ears broken too, shit head?"

"Don't call me shit head you no tits bitch!"

Her eyebrows twitched from anger. "I thought I told you not to talk about stuff you don't have a clue about! I do have tits!" she screamed.

"You're delusional! You are completely flat chested!" he screamed back.

"You talk big for a brat who hasn't even seen real tits." Jinta turned beat red again. However, this wasn't from anger, but rather embarrassment. She had hit the right nerve. Suddenly her rival became speechless. "Ah, I don't hear you talking anymore. For all your big talk you are still just a brat who spouts off at the mouth," Hiyori taunted.

"S-shut up!" he said weakly.

Hiyori patted him on the head. Jinta slapped her hand away. His anger returned. He hated how she treated him like he was some dumb kid. Between the two of them she was the one who looked like a kid. "I ain't no brat! You're the brat!"

"Only a brat would say that. It's so pathetic," she continued to taunt. "You really are a no tit seeing brat." She stuck her tongue out, infuriating him more.

"No tits bitch!"

"No tit seeing brat!"

They were so loud. Tessai massaged his temples. He was going to get a headache. Why couldn't they be more like Ururu?

"What's with the ruckus?" All the commotion suddenly stopped. All three of the Urahara Shop workers' gazes went to the doorway or rather the man standing there. "I could hear you all the way outside." The man walked through the door.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Hiyori asked rudely. Tessai sighed. He smacked her in the back of the head. "What was that for?" she whined. Normally he had more patience with her, but she was so hard headed. As long as she acted so rash and blunt she would continue to scare of customers. Still he shared her sentiments. What was Kurosaki Isshin doing here? "Tessai!" cried Hiyori again.

"That was to teach you better manners," he responded. Jinta snickered until Tessai struck him as well. "You also need to learn better manners." They both glared at him. One glare from him was enough to send them running. "I apologize for their behavior," he told Isshin.

The former shinigami gave one of his friendly grins. Tessai always liked Isshin. The man was very kind, something he found most shinigami captains lacked. "It's no problem. I have three kids, remember? I know how much of a ruckus they can make."

"Hey! Who are you calling kids?" Hiyori and Jinta cried. Once again Tessai intimidated them back into silence. The former Kido Corps captain was a man to be feared. There were times when even Isshin was taken aback by how frightening he could be. Tessai was before his time, but he suspected he was a man you didn't want to get on his bad side.

"Ururu isn't here." Isshin made the observation after noticing the meek girl was nowhere in sight.

She was usually never very far from Jinta.

"She is with Yoruichi-san helping her with an errand. She should be back by the end of the day," Tessai informed. "The boss is in the back of the shop. You can go right in."

"Are you sure I'm not interrupting anything?" Tessai shook his head and ushered him in. Never one to be rude Isshin went on to the back. It was more of a formality at this point. Urahara and Tessai had made it apparent that he didn't need to be hesitant whenever he wanted to see them, but it was just common courtesy. He wasn't always sure what he would find with Urahara. One could never be too careful with that man.

* * *

><p>Ikumi was absolutely livid. She hadn't stopped screaming at him since he called her. He had to hold the phone away from his ear and even then he could clearly hear her as if she was standing right next to him in person. He was definitely being berated the same way Ikumi did to him in person. He couldn't get a word in edge wise.<p>

"YOU MORON!" he heard her say for the sixth time in that conversation now. "Do you really think you can just take time off whenever you like!?" she shouted. "I have a business to run you know!" He knew. She would never let him forget it. All their disputes somehow ended up with her mentioning it.

"What kind of moron takes time off whenever he feels like it and tells his boss to her face he's doing it? I don't know if you are brave or just incredible dense!" The ex-substitute rolled his eyes. He wasn't taking a day off. He was going in, just at a later time. If she would let him talk he could tell her that.

"I hired you because I needed the extra pair of hands! I would like to actually get to use that extra pair of hands from time to time! Is it really too much for an employer to expect her employee to come in and do work!?"

There was a break in the storm. Ichigo seized the opportunity before she could catch her breath. "It's not like…."

Ikumi renewed her screaming and drowned him out. "DON'T YOU DARE TELL ME IT'S NOT LIKE THAT!" Ichigo winched. Why did she have to have such a strong set of lungs? He had to move his phone further away from him, but he could still hear her. "ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS!" she continued. "Now tell me why my generosity is being taken advantage of."

"I was planning on coming in today." He waited for her to interrupt him, she remained silent and waited for him to continue. "I was just going to come in later." Ichigo had enough sense to pull the phone away just as Ikumi started shouting at him again. He had really underestimated his boss's fury this time around. He could only imagine what Orihime and Tatsuki would say when they learned they had been right. Well, Orihime wouldn't gloat. It just wasn't in her nature. When she told Tatsuki, and she inevitably would either by choice or her inability to lie convincingly to Tatsuki, he would never hear the end of it.

"I need an employee who is reliable, not a flake that shows up whenever he wants!" That tugged on his guilt string. Ichigo knew he hadn't always been the best employee to Ikumi. Sometimes he'd take more days off than he should or skip out earlier than he should have. It really wasn't fair to the single mother who was trying to run a business to support her son.

"Look you are right," the former vizard admitted. His admission of fault made Ikumi celebrate. She promised no hard feelings so long as he came into work at this moment. "I'm sort of playing soccer for my school's team. I can't just ditch these guys, they need me." They paid handsomely. He needed that money. He wasn't going to tell Ikumi that he was running late to that job to work another job. She would skin him alive. "How about I come in late today, but make it up by working later." He was playing a dangerous game offering his boss this option. She was a fair boss, but she could also be a slave driver, especially when she worked him later hours for punishment.

His boss pondered the proposition. No doubt she was trying to weigh if it benefited her more to force him to come in now or work later. "Why should I agree to this? I should make you honor your commitment to me and force you down here. Shiori put in a good word for you to get this job and you disregarded her as well as me by constantly doing whatever you want." The last thing Ichigo needed was for Masaoka to learn of this. Every time he ditched work or was late Ikumi would tell Masaoka. Masaoka would give him an ear full from her as well. They teamed up on him. "But I do remember what it was like to be in high school. It's your final year there and you're trying to make fond memories. I'll give you an hour and not a second longer. Do you understand?" she asked. "If you go over that hour I will drag your ass here kicking and screaming."

Ichigo recognized the threat. Ikumi had no problems with going out, finding him, and throwing him into her van and taking him to the shop. He hated it. She always tied him up and if she was feeling sadistic that day, would leave him tied up for a while. "I got it." She hung up. He sighed in relief. He managed to buy himself an hour. Of course that meant he would have to stay an hour later. It looked like visiting Chad was out today. He was going to have to call Orihime up and tell her. She would understand, but he didn't like letting her down.

"KUROSAKI!" Who the hell was that? The whole school heard that. Ichigo groaned. A group of wannabe thugs who belonged in the last decade had crowded the school gates. This was just what he needed. They were carrying wooden swords with the exception of who Ichigo assumed was the leader. He was a big guy who was plump in the stomach area. "There is someone named Kurosaki at this school, right?" the leader shouted, drawing the attention of every student in the yard.

Ichigo had spent so much time making people forget about his old unwanted reputation as a delinquent. These loud mouth morons were ruining it. The leader demanded for him to show up and face them. Apparently the guy that Ichigo stopped from robbing the ramen guy's bag had been part of his crew. The leader took it as an attack on the whole gang or some such nonsense. He would have ignored the fat idiot if he didn't threaten to hold the whole school hostage by guarding the gate and preventing anyone from leaving. That is when Ishida got involved.

Ishida tried to get them to leave, but one thing led to another and he ended up knocking one of them out. He challenged all of them! The whole thing was out of hand. Ishida was supposed to be the smart one yet he did something so stupid. Now he had to step in to make sure things didn't get more out of control then they were now.

* * *

><p>Ichigo was impossible. Ikumi wasn't sure why she didn't fire him. When he first started the kid was a model employee. He was always on time. He did every job without complaint. When did he become so difficult? "That brat takes advantage of my kindness," she complained to herself. While she toyed with the idea of letting Ichigo go, there really wasn't anyone who had lasted longer than a week or two before she hired him. Everyone before Ichigo had quit. He was the only one to not quit. She thought she would get similar results if she fired him and tried hiring someone else. Ichigo was the best person for the job. He was the only one with enough guts to stick with the demanding jobs her business required.<p>

It wasn't like the kid was a terrible employee anyway. He still did all his work and he usually came in more often than not. While he started grumbling and complaining now he still did the job. He was still a pretty good employee. If only she could get her son, Kaoru, to warm up to him. She had to remember Ichigo was a high school student in his third and final year. Next year he would probably go to a university. It was natural he would want to do some fun stuff before adulthood approached. Ikumi remembered those times. For Ichigo's sake she hoped he didn't get too wild. She had firsthand experience of what getting too wild could get you. Her time at college had been fun, but she had let it get too out of hand and she found herself pregnant during her final year. Being young and stupid had consequences for her and Kaoru's father. They tried to do the family thing for a few years before they realized they didn't work together and went their separate ways.

Her son was lucky if he got to talk to his father, let alone visit him. Why was she thinking about this? She saw a lot of herself in Ichigo, but that didn't mean he would go down the same path she did. She shouldn't worry about if he would get Orihime pregnant. She met the girl a few times. She was a bit bubbly, but smart. Ichigo was a good kid at heart with a brain. Why she was so worried about her employee was beyond her. She wasn't his mother, but she had grown fond of him. He was like an annoying little brother as much as Shiori was like her kid sister. For Ichigo's sake she hoped his life didn't turn out like hers.

"I really am too kind for my own good." The doorbell rang. The dark haired women sprung to life. She had a customer. Ikumi opened the door. "Welcome to the Unagiya Shop! We're cheap, fast, and reassuring!" She used her most pleasant and ecstatic tone. It was just her good luck that the customer was a man. She wasn't above using her beauty to her advantage. One few unmistakable truths she had learned was that men really did fall apart for a pretty face or a pair of large breasts, two things Ikumi was blessed with.

The man had kind eyes, eyes that to her surprise did not wander. He wasn't the type to leer. She liked that. His smile was friendly. It served him well and enhanced his good looks. He was quite handsome. For Ikumi, it put her more on guard. She couldn't be sure if this was an act or if the man was genuine. "I take it you are the owner?" the man asked as kindly as his features were.

"That I am. I am Unagiya Ikumi." Her smile fell to a frown. "You are aware this is not an eel restaurant right?" she spoke with forced cheer. Despite all these years it still amazed her how people could confuse the name of her shop with an unagi restaurant. How stupid could people be?

The man's smile widened as he tried to hold back a laugh. "Yes. I am aware this is not an unagi shop. I take it from that response that people make that mistake often."

"You have no idea." The man did laugh that time.

"Your shop does odd jobs?" he asked.

"Yes," Ikumi answered politely.

"What type of jobs do you take?"

"Well it depends," she said. "Customers come in and tell us the job and what it pertains. I decide if we will take it. We do not take jobs that are illegal or skirt against the law. Obviously we do nothing criminal or sexual in nature," she quickly added. The man didn't strike her as a criminal or a pervert, but looks could be very deceiving. She wasn't ready to roll anything out with this man just yet.

"I see. May I ask if you would take on a job that required you investigate someone?"

A chill ran up her spine. Ikumi had to will her body not to shiver. The friendly smile was still in place, but his eyes were devoid of any of the kindness she once saw. They were devoid of any emotion. Her instincts told her to not trust this man. She trusted her instincts. "It depends on many factors. I would need a picture to go off of and at least a name to get started."

"That is no problem at all." The man provided her with a photo. Ikumi made sure to take it politely. Her heart stopped when her eyes took in the image. That was. Who the hell was this man in front of her? Why did he want to know about him of all people? "The man's name is…."

"I know who he is!" she snapped. That was very stupid. She gave away that she knew who he was personally. Of all the times for her to lose her cool, now was not one of them.

The man continued to smile at her. Instead of putting her at ease it made her skin crawl. "Well that saves me some trouble. Will you take the job?"

"I'll think about it," she muttered.

"That is all I can ask for the moment," the man said. "I allow you to keep the photo for now. If you decide not to take the job I will need it back of course."

"Of course," Ikumi said. She tried to give him a friendly smile to reassure him, but didn't feel it reach her face. The man wished her a good day and left making no fuss. He did nothing out of place. In fact he acted more polite than most of the clients she took on, but there was something off. One thing was for certain, before she decided to take this job or not she needed to talk to Ichigo. She was regretting letting him play soccer instead of coming in. She was going to have to wait a whole hour. Maybe she didn't have to sit around and wait. There were some people she could call and begin to look into this mystery man. She had her own contacts after all. It looked like she would need to conduct her own investigation.

* * *

><p>"Now, now," Isshin heard the unmistakable voice of Urahara. "You are doing a fine job," the shop owner continued. He walked through the back room and saw his old friend was sitting in his favorite spot with a phone to his ear. The former 12th division captain noticed his appearance. Typical of Urahara he wore big grin and gestured for him to take a seat. "I know it can be troublesome, but that's why I turned to you. There is no one better for handling situations like this than you."<p>

Isshin wondered who Urahara was talking to. He was laying on his charm, trying to butter up whoever was on the other end of the phone. It was probably Yoruichi. She was one of the few people who could get Urahara to put that much effort into ass kissing.

"Come on. Don't be that way. I'm sure we can find a suitable agreement." Whatever the person on the other end said it didn't appear to rob Urahara of his spirits. He let out that jolly laugh. "I knew I could count on you. Your services are always appreciated. I will make sure you are compensated." The shop owner said his goodbyes to the unknown caller before setting his sights on Isshin.

"This is a pleasant surprise," Kisuke cried merrily. "I didn't expect to see you today. What brings you all the way here? Don't tell me you just came all this way to visit little old me."

It amazed him how Urahara kept up the hapless fool act around him despite knowing him for over twenty years. He supposed he was one to talk. "Have you noticed anything odd happening in Karakura lately?" Isshin made sure to pay close attention to how Urahara reacted. The mastermind was unnaturally skilled in concealing his true intentions, but if one knew him well enough and paid close attention to him it was possible to pick up subtle changes.

"Have I sensed anything odd lately?" He repeated the question. That was a classic diversion tactic from the Urahara playbook. "Could you clarify what you mean by odd, Isshin-san?"

Urahara wasn't going to be sharing more information than he had to. He wanted Isshin to give up his info first. Such an uneven trade bugged the hell out of Isshin. He would fish around by giving him bits. Urahara would return by supplying nibbles. It would go until one of them got enough information to satisfy each other. Isshin was in no mood for the game today. He needed answers. "Has there been an unusual spike in spiritual energy in Karakura Town recently?"

"I'm afraid I haven't detected any unusual spikes of spiritual energy in Karakura Town recently," Kisuke replied. The battle with the Privaron Espada in the previous year had caused spikes in spiritual energy throughout the year. More people were on the verge of becoming spiritually aware. There was no telling what could awaken their dormant spiritual power. It was becoming a bit of problem for the Soul Society. "Have you by any chance noticed an unusual spiritual energy?"

Of course he turned it around on Isshin. God he could be so annoying at times. "I haven't sensed anything unusual going on." He debated on whether or not he should tell Urahara about what he felt earlier that morning. It was only for an instant and then it was gone. It could have been nothing at all, but did he want to take that chance? "This morning when my family was having breakfast I felt a strange presence attached to Ichigo."

Very few things surprised Kisuke. He always liked to anticipate several outcomes and variables, even the most unlikely ones. The strange presence didn't surprise Kisuke in the slightest. If anything it tickled his curiosity. This was intriguing. "Could you make out what the strange presence around Kurosaki-san was?"

"I'm not sure." When the words left his mouth both Urahara and he knew they weren't true. Well at least it was a half-truth. For a brief instant Isshin could have sworn he felt reiatsu radiating from Ichigo. That was impossible. It had to be something else.

"Isshin-san." There was none of the usual mirth in Kisuke's voice. He looked Isshin square in the eye. Isshin quickly turned away. It was as if Kisuke's gaze had burned him. "I cannot help you unless I know what is going on. I need more information."

"I….I'm not sure what it was exactly, but I thought it might have been…For a moment I thought it could have been….reiatsu." That word was hard to get out. Urahara didn't act surprise or act like he was out of his mind. Isshin took that as a good sign. "I don't think it was that." It was impossible. If it returned he would know.

"Why?" Kisuke asked instantly, almost defensively. That was a bit odd. Urahara of all people should know why this was impossible.

"It felt different from Ichigo's normal reiatsu and when I tried to focus my senses I couldn't feel anything coming from him at all. If his reiatsu returned then it wouldn't just flicker in and out." That's not how spiritual energy worked. If it returned, it would be weaker until it slowly regained strength, there would be no mistaking it. At least that was how it worked for shinigami who had lost their spiritual power. The return would be slow, but unmistakable. It would be like a bowl slowly filling up with water. It shouldn't act like a flickering flame exposed to a breeze. If Ichigo's reiatsu was returning he should be able to sense it, shouldn't he? The same rules applied to Ichigo didn't they? His son wasn't a normal shinigami. Ichigo was unique. At his core he was human, but he was so much more.

"You think someone or something has come in contact with your son." As always Urahara was able to read between the lines. He wished the genius scientist wasn't so good at reading him or that he wasn't wearing his emotions on his sleeves.

"Is it possible for someone or something to have come into contact with Ichigo without us noticing?" Yesterday such a thought would have been absurd. Isshin was confident that if anything was going on that he would have sensed it. What he felt this morning, it worried him. It was only for a brief moment, but it shattered his previous confidence. Something was going on with Ichigo and Isshin had missed it completely.

"There is always that possibility." He growled in frustration. Urahara's cryptic nature wasn't helping at all. "I am afraid I haven't sensed anything out of the ordinary either. However, I can send someone to watch Kurosaki-san. Perhaps it is something we are unable to see or perceive from afar, but if we have someone who is close to him who knows to watch for anything, we could understand what is going on."

The shinigami turned doctor furrowed his brow. "You're saying you want someone to spy on Ichigo?"

"Not spy on Kurosaki-san himself exactly." Urahara was a master of crafting his words together carefully. He never revealed more than he needed to or wanted to. He could put a good spin on anything. He could probably make something like robbing a bank into a god damn civic duty. "We would have someone looking out for him and to make sure nothing is threatening him. We can't forget that Kurosaki-san has made a name for himself. There are many out there who would want to use him for their own purposes."

_'People like you,'_ Isshin thought. He owed a lot to Urahara and he considered the man a friend. The one thing they had never completely saw eye to eye on was Ichigo. There were times when Isshin questioned if his old friend saw Ichigo as a person or just a piece to use in strange game Urahara saw them all stuck in. He had hoped with Aizen's defeat that would end. "What, do you intend to have Yoruichi follow him around all day in cat form?"

"Nothing that obvious," the ex-captain of the 12th division said. "I was thinking more along the lines of Inoue-san."

"No!" Isshin blurted out. "I don't want to drag Orihime into this. Do you remember the last time we asked her for a favor it was to keep the Privaron Espada from Ichigo? When he found out he was angry at her for weeks." He felt like such an ass. He knew what his son's reaction would be, but he asked Orihime to do it anyway. In the end only Orihime suffered from the fallout. Ichigo didn't really take it out on him like he thought he would. Isshin felt even worse for it. Masaki wouldn't have approved of his actions. He couldn't blame her. He couldn't make Orihime do that again. "We should approach this in a different way."

"I understand that you want to protect Inoue-san, but she is the most qualified person. She already spends a lot of time with Kurosaki-san as it is. All we would be doing is alerting her to a possible threat. If she knows to look for something she will be able to protect him if the need should arise."

"You are only looking at this from an outside perspective. You haven't considered their feelings at all," he accused.

"That may be true, but your inability to look at this objectively is no better." Isshin was a good man, better than Kisuke ever was. He respected the man for his ability to empathize with others and help them no matter what. Good men didn't always prevail. More often than not it required darker methods and people who were willing to use them. He learned that the hard way with Aizen and how his old enemy had gotten him exiled. "You still haven't told Kurosaki-san the truth after all this time. You've had plenty of opportunities to, but you haven't. You are still unable to face it. You are projecting those fears to your son. That makes him vulnerable to the enemy."

He grabbed the shop owner shirt and hastily pulled him toward his enraged face. "Don't tell me how to raise my son! You aren't always right! We did things your way with Aizen and because of it he got his hands on the Hogyoku! You gambled all our lives on Ichigo being able to defeat him. You gambled that Aizen wouldn't just kill him before he became a threat! You always just use everyone as game piece or pawn! Not everyone wants that. Not everyone wants to play your game!"

Kisuke took everything in stride. He made no motion to get out of Isshin's grip nor showed any displeasure. The dark haired man hated that he couldn't rattle him up as much as how he let his anger control him. He let Urahara go. "What would you have us do then?" Kisuke spoke calmly.

"I…I'll ask him first and if he doesn't know…."

"Or doesn't answer," Kisuke supplied.

"We'll have to ask Orihime to keep an eye on him," he said reluctantly. With any luck things wouldn't have to go down that path. "Look, I'm sorry."

"There is nothing to apologize for. You're his father. It is only natural for you to respond like this." Did he have to be so reasonable? He would feel better about his out of character action if Urahara showed a little anger. "This isn't my place, but do you really think he'll be open with you when there is so much you haven't told him?" He never answered Urahara. He walked out not giving his old friend and ally a second glance. Like always he had to concede Urahara had a point.

* * *

><p><strong>Once again I'm sorry for the late update guys. I know it has been far too long. All I can really say is that I will try to get the chapters up sooner. I have a month long break before classes start again I should have more time and update more frequently. I am sure there are a number of people not happy to have such a long break and to still see a slow build up. Things will start to pick up soon. I am happier with this chapter than the last one, mostly because a lot of its original content and less lifted from the actual manga. From this moment on you should be seeing this story straying further and further from the canon arc. There will still be similarities obviously, but you should be seeing more surprises. <strong>

**For example this chapter we saw Isshin go visit Kisuke to discuss the strange presence around Ichigo and debate if his reiatsu was returning or not. We saw Ikumi didn't go down and drag Ichigo to shop and had a visitor hire her to investigate someone without Ichigo being there. Next chapter Ichigo will learn of it and we'll see his reaction. Isshin might have been a bit out of character, but I wanted him and Kisuke to be at odds with how to deal with things. We never saw Isshin lose his cool with Kisuke I thought it was more reasonable for him to be frustrated at the whole situation. For this story Isshin really want Ichigo, Orihime, and their friends to have nice normal lives and not have to carry the weight of the world. A large part of his frustration is that he's afraid Ichigo is getting his spiritual power back and that once it does he'll have his life robbed from him. He doesn't think Kisuke realizes that or since Kisuke looks at the bigger picture fears Kisuke ignores the kids' feelings and prepares them to handle the challenges that will meet.**

**I felt that was in character since we saw how Kisuke dealt with Orihime during the Arrancar arc. He didn't tell her the real reason he didn't want her to fight, but used Tsubaki's destruction as the reason she couldn't fight and that she would get in the way. While he's smart I think he can be bad with people or very least forget their emotions when he is dealing with the bigger picture. We'll probably see Kisuke do more questionable things in the story that not everyone will approve of. On a brighter note I wrote in that he offered Hiyori a job at the shop. Part of the reasoning is one I like Kisuke/Hiyori's dynamic in Turn Back The Pendulum mini-arc and wanted to write them again by having Hiyori work at the shop. I wanted to show Kisuke's softer side by having him reach out to Hiyori and try to rebuild their old relationship. **

**Since it is the holidays my wonderful beta, MasterQwertster wrote a funny Bleach Christmas story from her own Bleach Bell story of Christmas parodies. I thought it was funny and wanted to share with you guys. She really is the reason my stories are more bearable to read now.**

* * *

><p><strong>Twas the Night Before Christmas Bleach Style by MasterQwertster<strong>

Twas the night before Christmas, and all through Seireitei

Everybody was stirring, no time for delay

The alarms were loudly ringing with care

Announcing for all that a ryoka was there

The shinigami were scattered about

While many were confused and began to shout

The great captains, they tried to take charge

There was defending to do with an intruder at large

When out on the streets there arose such a clatter

That all turned to look and see what was the matter

The new intruder, they moved like a flash

Terrifying all with whom they were about to clash

The moon shone down on the streets below

Giving the luster of mid-day to objects below

When what to all wondering eyes should appear,

But a miniature sleigh and eight tiny reindeer

With a little old driver, so lively and quick

None knew whether or not it was a trick

More rapid than eagles his coursers they came

And he whistled and shouted and called them by name

"Now Dasher! Now Dancer! Now Prancer and Vixen!

On Comet! On Cupid! On Donner and Blitzen!

To the top of the porch! To the top of the wall!

Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away all!"

As dry leaves that before the wild reiatsu fly,

When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky

So up to the roof-tops the coursers they flew,

With the sleigh, giant sack, and the old man too

And then, in a twinkling, some heard on the roof

The prancing and pawing of each little hoof

As some began panicking and running around

Down the chimney the old man came with a bound

He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,

And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot

A very large sack he had flung on his back,

And he looked like a peddler, just opening his pack

His eyes-how they twinkled! His dimples how merry!

His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!

His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,

And the beard on his chin was as white as the snow

The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,

And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath

He had a broad face and a little round belly,

That shook when he laughed, like a bowlful of jelly!

He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,

And they screamed when they saw him, in spite of themselves!

A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,

Told them nothing as they felt a rising dread.

He spoke not a word, but looked about in surprise,

As he felt a deadly aura around him rise

And looking back he saw a shining blade

And the light in his eyes, it began to fade

The fat man he fell, his killer, he frowned

He had hoped it would take more the man to be downed

And many heard screamed, without further ado

"What's the matter with you, what the hell did you do?!"

"You guys just killed Santa Claus." Ichigo states, watching as the jolly old man is restored under Orihime's Souten Kisshun. "That is not how you celebrate Christmas."

Yeah, Kenpachi killed Santa while he was trying to deliver to Yachiru, but this is totally what would happen if Santa tried to do a run in Seireitei.

**Merry Christmas! **


	5. Knowns and Unknowns

**The chapter is here and ready early for a change. I owe thanks to MasterQwertster for her speedy work.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach in any shape or form. I do own Masaoka Shiori though.**

* * *

><p>Orihime ran as fast as her legs could carry her, well, as fast as she could run without revealing her supernatural abilities. One of the disadvantages of possessing a living body was that she was visible to the human eye, unlike their shinigami allies. It was inconvenient to have to run as fast as her physical body would allow without the use of her spiritual energy, but her fortune wasn't exactly bad. Orihime wasn't that far from the school when she heard from two second year students that Karakura High was taken hostage by a gang.<p>

While her school being at the mercy of a gang was bad news in its own right, what startled the healer was the information that the supposed gang's target was her beloved Kurosaki-kun. As soon as she heard that she demanded the second year students tell her everything. They had only learned a little from a friend still at school. The gang had appeared not long after she left. Their interest in Ichigo was to avenge a friend that he had beaten in the past. They were willing to hold everyone still at the school hostage just to get their hands on him.

Orihime did not need to hear any more than that. She needed to get to the school as fast as humanly possible. If she didn't there was no telling what would happen. Ichigo would be fine. Orihime knew he could handle any normal human opposition without breaking a sweat. She had witnessed that first hand when he stopped the mugger with a knife yesterday. He didn't even get a scratch on him, a fact she was grateful for. No matter the number of people there she knew Ichigo could defeat them. Fighting on school grounds with so many eye witnesses was a bad idea. If Ishida-kun learned about it he would have to report it to the principal. Ichigo could get into some serious trouble. With her beloved Kurosaki-kun's past delinquency, if he were to get a fight on campus suspension or even expulsion wouldn't be out of the question.

It would be smarter to get a teacher to handle it, but Ichigo wasn't known for backing down from challenges, especially if innocent people were caught in the crossfire. He would fight the gang for no other reason than to help their schoolmates. Orihime wasn't sure if they would understand that and only think Ichigo was a thug who liked to get into fights and report him accordingly. She needed to get there fast and help him. The sight of the school gates made her heart rejoice. They never looked more beautiful than they did this moment. There were no bodies spread out across the ground at the gate. That was a good sign, or at least she hoped it was. That hope was dashed entirely to her dismay.

A number of men in school uniforms she didn't recognize were lying on the ground, moaning and groaning in obvious pain. Orihime didn't have far to look to see who was responsible. Ichigo was in the center of it, but he wasn't the only one. To the healer's astonishment Ishida-kun was standing right next to him. The pair of friends was locked in yet another heated argument it seemed. That was a bad sign. Ishida-kun must have been lecturing Ichigo on fighting on school grounds. What if he really did report him? Knowing Ichigo, he would push Ishida-kun's buttons and egg Ishida-kun on to reporting him to the principal. Ishida-kun was most likely unaware that Ichigo got into a fight for a good cause. He didn't know the whole story. She didn't know the whole story. If she could just get them to calmly talk things out before anyone said or did anything they would regret.

"Kurosaki-kun!" Orihime ran toward her two friends. "Kurosaki-kun! Ishida-kun!" The pair stopped their bickering. Both of them looked surprised at the sight of her. Ishida-kun hadn't even sensed her approach. He must have been very engaged in the argument to not have sensed her.

"Inoue/Inoue-san," they uttered at the same time.

"Are you two alright?" The words came out spontaneously. It sounded extremely silly when she heard it. Why wouldn't Ichigo and Ishida-kun be alright? The men on the ground were no threat to either of them. That was obvious considering unconscious states the gang members were in. "I guess that was a dumb question. If you weren't alright you wouldn't just be standing here, huh?" Orihime tried to laugh it off, but she only received odd looks for her troubles. "Um, what I meant to ask is what happened? I heard that a gang came here looking for Kurosaki-kun and was holding the school hostage."

News traveled fast. The wannabe thugs' temporary lock down of the school had occurred maybe ten minutes ago. Ichigo didn't think Orihime would hear about it that fast. "That is more or less what happened," he explained to her. "Do you remember that guy from yesterday, the mugger?" She nodded yes. "These guys were some friends of his. They didn't like me beating him up, so they came over here to try to settle the score and save their rep. They tried to grand stand like out of some bad movie."

"Once again you managed to attract trouble thanks to your careless actions," Uryu stated.

Ichigo growled. Ishida had some nerve. He couldn't believe he tried to play as if this was all Ichigo's fault. "You aren't one to talk. In the end you were the one who made things more difficult than they needed to be! You picked a fight with them. If it weren't for you getting involved I would have been able to take them away somewhere else so the rest of the school didn't get involved!"

Anger flashed on Uryu's face. He disagreed with Kurosaki. He still hadn't seen things for what they were. He couldn't just let them go after they mixed him up with Kurosaki. They looked nothing alike. It was insulting to be mixed up with Kurosaki of all people "I had everything under control until you got involved!" he shot back the ex-substitute. "No one asked you to butt in."

"Idiot! You are the student council president! Like I said before you need to think about your position before you just jump into fights that don't involve you!"

"Like I told you, I became involved when they came to the school!" shouted back Uryu. "As the student council president I had a duty to make sure those people stopped causing trouble and allow people to come to and leave the school! You are the one who had no place there. You butted in when no one asked you to!"

"Don't be ridiculous! How can I not get involved when they shouted my name out specifically?"

"You should take your own advice and think of your position before you just jump into a fight! It is a serious offense to get caught fighting on school grounds. If you are reported you could get expelled!"

"That is exactly why I was going to lead them away from the school!" the orange haired boy reminded him.

Orihime could see this argument had no end in sight. Both Ichigo and Uryu refused to ever give in to each other, which meant they could be arguing for hours unless someone put a stop to it. She was the person to do it. "There is no need to fight. It sounds like you both just got involved to make sure neither of you got into trouble." They turned on her so fast that she jumped backward.

"As if I would ever want to help him get out of trouble!" they yelled in unison. Orihime didn't understand why they had to be so stubborn. They were close friends. They always had the other one's best interests in mind. There was no need to pretend otherwise after almost three years of friendship.

Ichigo and Uryu were too prideful for their own good. "Ishida-kun, you won't report this, will you? Kurosaki-kun could get into serious trouble." The healer didn't try to hide the concern in her voice. She expected to hear Ichigo protest, but he didn't. Her boyfriend recognized the severity this fight could have on his school career.

Under normal circumstance Uryu would have to report a fight in school grounds. He was after all the student council president. It was his duty, but that didn't mean his report necessarily had to be a negative one. Kurosaki had helped him deal with a serious problem to the student body. All the witnesses were grateful and happy rather than upset. They cheered when they handled the thick headed thugs. It only fed to Kurosaki's bully hunter reputation. He sincerely doubted anyone would contradict his report on the matter. It wasn't right for Kurosaki to get into trouble over brain dead idiots trying to live out some bad movie by coming here to challenge him. "I intend to only report the truth. Kurosaki assisted me in keeping rowdy boys from another school from causing trouble. He didn't instigate the fight. Furthermore, I tried to resolve the incident peacefully, but they refused to leave so there was no other choice but to defend ourselves."

Orihime was elated. She could breathe easier knowing that Ichigo wasn't in danger of expulsion. Their final year of high school was secure. Ichigo was less than thrilled. He knew he should be happy. Technically, everything Ishida said was true, but at the same time the quincy was the one who threw the first punch. Had Ichigo gotten his way he would have lead them away from the school. At least he was out of trouble.

"Thank you, Ishida-kun," Orihime said with a jubilant smile.

"There is no need to thank me. I am only reporting the truth," Uryu stated. Kurosaki had his faults, but he wasn't a brainless thug who terrorized people. He didn't want his rival to get into trouble that wasn't really his fault. He learned from Kojima that Kurosaki stopped a mugger from robbing someone. It wasn't his fault that the mugger's idiot gang tried to pick a fight with him. His friend didn't deserve that.

"Wait, Inoue, did you come all this way just to make sure I was alright?" Ichigo asked as the appearance of his girlfriend dawned at him at last.

"I wanted to make sure you didn't get into trouble. I knew you could handle yourself in a fight, but I wanted to make sure that you didn't get reported."

She was never going to stop worrying about him, even if it meant risking being late to her job. It got annoying at times, but today wasn't one of those times. Orihime was always there to support him no matter what. Her concern was just one of the many ways she showed it. If he was lucky she would never stop being concerned about his wellbeing. "I'm fine." His lips curved upward into a modest smile. His Hime returned it with smile reserved just for him. "I was planning on calling you before this crap happened. I have to work later today, so I can't come to see Chad with you."

That wasn't surprising at all. Orihime expected he would face repercussions for choosing to go in late to work. Ikumi-san was very scary. She wouldn't accept her beloved just calling in and telling her he would be late lightly. "I understand. I'll stop by Sado-kun's place on my own when I get off."

"Sorry about this. If I could get out of it I would, but I already promised Ikumi-san I would work later to make up for being late." He never liked to disappoint her. Orihime was always quick to deny he ever disappointed her, but he couldn't help thinking there were times like this one that he did. It wasn't like Orihime would ever say she was disappointed. The girl was too kind for her own good at times.

"Kurosaki-senpai! We need to start practice soon!" called out one of Ichigo's temporary teammates.

With all the excitement Ichigo had forgotten about the soccer team. He could only stay for less than an hour now. There was no chance in hell that Ikumi would allow him more time. He knew not to push his luck any further than he already had, not unless he wanted to stay at the shop until midnight. "I have to go practice and give them their money's worth. I'll see you later tonight."

He gave her the cutest apologetic expression she had ever seen. It made her stomach flutter. He always sought to comfort her. It always made her feel like the most important person in the world. "I'll see you later tonight," she repeated. "Have fun and do your best."

Unlike Karin, he didn't have a real interest in soccer. Fun was something Ichigo didn't expect to have. "You should get going or you'll be late for work," he told her. He watched her gasp. Work had slipped the auburn healer's mind. Orihime could be absent minded at times.

Her hazel eyes shot toward her watch. A second wave of relief washed over her. Orihime had enough time. If she left now she would still make it to work with plenty of time to spare. She could probably stick around to watch Ichigo practice for a little while or talk to Ishida-kun. How could she have forgotten that? She was thinking about talking with the archer not even an hour ago. This was the perfect opportunity. Once she and Ichigo made their final goodbyes and he ran back to the soccer field she turned to Uryu. "Ishida-kun," she called out. "Can we talk for a bit?"

"Are you sure now is a good time?" Uryu never minded talking with Orihime. He didn't wish to make her late for her job though.

"It won't take long," she told him truthfully.

He trusted her judgment. Inoue-san was very responsible. If she felt she was going to be late she would not stop to talk to him now. "What do you wish to discuss?" he asked with genuine curiosity.

"This morning I had breakfast with Kurosaki-kun's family. It was a typical morning." There wasn't a need to go into the usual routine at the Kurosaki household. Everyone knew about Isshin-san's less than conventional parenting style and the chaos it often bred. "At first it was normal, but then something odd happened."

Knowing Kurosaki's father, Uryu believed something odd happened. He didn't know the man as well as Inoue-san did, but what he saw of the man reminded him of Urahara-san. He was very energetic and rowdy, which in his mind explained some of Kurosaki's own unruly behavior.

"Isshin-san's mood changed suddenly. It was almost as if he was frightened." What could fright Kurosaki's father? The man was a powerful shinigami. Uryu never forgot the incredible pressure of his reiatsu. For a man like that to be frightened meant this was something he couldn't take lightly. "He was concerned about Kurosaki-kun. He kept asking him if he was ok. I was unsure why."

Kurosaki's father was frightened by his son? He needed more information. There was more than just fatherly concern going on here. "Ishida-kun." Inoue-san's soft voice drew Uryu out of his thoughts. "This morning I felt something strange around Kurosaki-kun. It was strange, but also felt familiar. I only felt it for a brief moment before it was gone. I haven't been able to feel it ever since. Have you felt anything from him?"

"No. I haven't felt anything strange coming from Kurosaki at all. You say you that this aura around Kurosaki felt strange and familiar at the same time." The healer confirmed he was correct. "Do you have any idea what you felt?"

That was the question. Orihime had been speculating about what the unknown aura could be. If it weren't for Isshin-san she might have even just chalked it up to her mind playing tricks on her. The chances that both Isshin-san and she were mistaken were unlikely. The question worth asking was if what she felt from Ichigo was reiatsu. If she was questioning herself that meant it wasn't reiatsu, right? If Ichigo's reiatsu was returning she would know. How could she not know? She would recognize his reiatsu from anywhere. She had always been able to feel it. Even when Hachi's barrier concealed his reiatsu into another dimension, even when he transformed into a berserk hollow form and his reiatsu had transformed into something new, she could still feel his reiatsu deep inside. Orihime knew she would know if his reiatsu returned. There could be no mistake.

There were no questions when it came to her Kurosaki-kun and the reiatsu that had always been able to make her feel safe. She should never have to question if she felt it. At the same time her first thought to the strange aura was his reiatsu. If only it hadn't disappeared so fast. If she could have gotten to feel it longer she would know for sure. "Inoue-san." Ishida-kun waited for her reply. Under his scrutinizing gaze she knew it was no use trying to hide all the confusion building up inside of her. He would see right through her.

Orihime took a deep breath. She was overthinking this. She knew what she felt. It was time she stopped second guessing herself and spoke what she felt. "Kurosaki-kun's reiatsu," the healer announced. She watched as his icy blue eyes widened. The gravity of her words hit him. It sounded absurd. Orihime knew that. No matter how long or how hard she thought on it her mind kept going back to that one thing. "I think I felt Kurosaki-kun's reiatsu."

Surprise left Uryu's eyes. A new emotion had taken possession of his eyes. Sorrow, sorrow for her or rather sorrow at what she believed in. She didn't need that. This was what why she was afraid to tell him or Tatsuki what she felt. She didn't want to receive that look of sorrow and cruel sympathy. "Inoue-san, it has been seventeen months since Kurosaki lost all his spiritual powers. There haven't been any signs of them returning. When we were with Kurosaki I hadn't felt any reiatsu coming off of him. It is highly unlikely what you felt was that."

"I know it doesn't sound likely," she admitted. "I can't feel anything at the moment either, but part of me thinks what I felt this morning was his reiatsu. I think it is starting to return at last. I know it sounds crazy," she said before he could interject. " ButI can't help, but feel that way. My intuition tells me." Orihime locked eyes with him. Her belief was so strong that it seared from her eyes.

Uryu was taken aback. There was no doubt within Inoue-san's stare. Any further attempt to discourage her would end in failure. The quincy started to wonder if perhaps there was something to her belief. Kurosaki's father was concerned as well. There was some basis for Inoue-san's belief. It warranted further investigation. "We should keep an eye Kurosaki for the time being. If you and his father felt something strange then that alone gives us reason to monitor him. I am unsure if we should mention anything until we're certain."

Orihime frowned. She had no intentions of keeping this from Ichigo. "We shouldn't keep this from him. We kept the Privaron Espada from him out of fear he would do something rash. We didn't consider his feelings at all and made him feel as if he was a child. He resented us for it." He resented her for it. He expected that treatment from everyone else except for her. He expected her to have more faith in him. He had every right to be upset with her. She broke her vow to never lose faith in Ichigo yet again, just as she had done in Hueco Mundo. Fate had given her another chance. This time she would not waver. "We have to be honest with him. Just because his shinigami powers are gone doesn't make him any less our comrade."

"I understand your argument, but we still haven't confirmed what you felt was really Kurosaki's reiatsu or not." Orihime scowled at Uryu and surprised him yet again. The healer was passionate about her belief. She thought it was his reiatsu she felt. "I don't think we should get his hopes up just in case this strange aura is something else."

They would be making decisions for him yet again. Ishida-kun's heart was in the right place. Out of all them he was the one who empathized with Ichigo the most. Ishida-kun had lost his quincy powers at one point. He spoke from experience of how powerful the hope of spiritual powers returning was. He didn't want to dangle that hope in front of Ichigo unless they were certain. That wasn't his choice. It wasn't her choice either. "I respect your opinion. I know you have Kurosaki-kun's best interest at heart. It shows just how much closer you and Kurosaki-kun have grown. But I can't deceive him again. I promised I would trust him. I am going to tell him what I felt tonight. If I am wrong I will deal with the consequences, but if I keep this from him it is like saying I don't have faith in Kurosaki-kun. I cannot do that again. This time my faith in him will not waver."

When had Inoue-san become so stubborn? She was taking on more of Kurosaki's qualities. He couldn't blame Kurosaki's influence, at least not entirely. Inoue-san was always stubborn when it came to protecting people she loved. The only difference now was her strength and confidence stopped wavering. Uryu didn't like it, but ultimately it was her choice. He had to respect that. She made a fair point. "I understand. I will not try to discourage you from this again."

"Thank you for understanding," she said. "I'll tell Sado-kun what is going on when I see him later. I have to get going to work now." Orihime left the quincy alone. Things were going to be different this time. She would tell Ichigo what was going on. They would face whatever this was together.

* * *

><p>The hour came and went almost in a blink of an eye. Soccer practice went as well as Ichigo expected. He dominated the field easily. He wowed his employers with his skill. He proved why he was worth all the money they paid him. The display would encourage them to hire him in the future and other clubs and teams to try to outbid each other even more to get his services. Playing for teams and clubs was easy. Ichigo never had a difficult time doing any of them. The real challenges would come from Ikumi.<p>

Out of all the jobs he had, Ichigo knew without a shadow of a doubt that working at the Unagiya Shop was the hardest one. The woman was a slave driver. Masaoka warned him she was difficult, but he never imagined it would be this rough. The jobs could be relatively easy or extremely difficult. One time he had to go to several stores just to find some rare card for some silly kid's game. It took him all day to locate the card than purchase it with the hefty sum their employer had given them. Sometimes she would barely show gratitude and when he brought it up she would point out he was doing his job. According to Ikumi, praise for doing the job like he was supposed to didn't require her to give him a pat on the head. Hilariously enough that only applied to him. She constantly praised Kaoru for doing the littlest things.

At least the job paid well. Ikumi could be very intense and aggravating, but she was a pretty fair boss. That won Ichigo's loyalty. He admired how a single mother owned and ran her own business while raising her kid. She never really complained or let it overwhelm her. He could have a worse boss than someone like Ikumi. Ichigo stayed on even when there were times that he was tempted to quit. The ex-substitute knew in his heart he would probably never go through with it, at least until he left for college. The trip to the shop no longer felt long. The Unagiya Shop was more than a fair distance from his school and in the center of town. He used to feel every minute of the thirty minute trip, but it felt like nothing now.

He reached for the key that Ikumi had given to him after working there for three months. She wanted him to be able to get in without her just in case she was out on another job when he had to come in. His boss made him promise not to abuse the power and try to sneak into her place to peak on her. He was offended by it, but like Masaoka before her, she enjoyed teasing him. "I'm here!" Ichigo closed the door behind him.

"Kuro-dummy is finally here." Ichigo groaned. Kaoru was in the office. "Why are you always late, Kuro-dummy? You don't need to come if you are always late. You are totally taking advantage of my mom." The boy stuck his tongue out at him. The kid was such a brat, at least to him. The kid only treated him with disdain. No matter how hard he tried, Kaoru refused to warm up to him. It mystified Ichigo. The kid had no problem with Orihime. He loved her. The kid just wasn't a fan of his. The feeling was mutual for Ichigo.

With Kaoru around, Ikumi lost the gloves and hat and donned the apron. She made a point to never show her son her more abrasive side. She wanted him to see her as the loving mother she was. In Ichigo's opinion, she went overboard by playing up the housewife and stay at home mother traits. The mother and son were on the floor playing a board game. The kid was a pain in the ass, but he was moved by the sight of him playing a game with his mother. It reminded him of when he and his mother would do things like that all the time. "Kaoru, sweetie," Ikumi said soothingly. She did lay it on too thick. "Mommy needs to talk to Ichigo-chan now. Why don't you go off and play and I'll fix you dinner later."

"Ok. I'll see you a little later mom." Kaoru obediently put away the game and started to leave. Before he parted her gave his mother a hug. He gave Ichigo the stink eye. The kid was such a brat. Once Kaoru left the room his boss lost the apron promptly.

"Don't you think you're putting too much effort into your traditional mom act? The kid has to see the real you eventually you know."

"I'll take parenting advice from you when you actually have a child of your own," Ikumi remarked. Taking the hint Ichigo shut up. Ikumi was a bit sensitive when someone questioned her parenting skills. "It's about time you got here. I said you would only get an hour."

"I made it right on time," he protested. He was proud that he made it on time just like he said.

"You shouldn't be proud at making it into work with only seconds to spare, especially after I allowed you to come in later than you were supposed to." The owner of the Unagiya Shop narrowed her eyes in annoyance.

"At least I made it on time though." She couldn't hold it against him and try to make him stay even longer tonight than he had to. "What jobs do we have today? If there are any landscaping ones I can start on them now. There is light out for another hour at least. I want get those jobs down first."

"That can wait." Were those words coming out of Unagiya Ikumi's mouth? Ichigo almost fell. It wasn't like his boss to just dismiss jobs like nothing. Usually he was the one insisting some jobs could wait, while she lectured him on how they needed to complete every job with efficiency and speed.

"I must have misheard you. It almost sounded like you said the jobs could wait," he teased. "You were just on my ass for coming in to do what you hired me to do." Annoyance reached her face. The smart thing to do would be to drop it, but Ichigo couldn't help but rub it in. Part of their dynamic was playful banter and trying to irritate each other. Ikumi's expression was normal. "I get here on time and am ready for work just like you wanted. I can't believe you would tell me work can wait. That doesn't sound like you at all."

"Ichigo!" she exclaimed loudly. Ikumi was louder than she intended to be. She did at least grab Ichigo's attention and shut him up. "Ichigo," she repeated. Her tone was lax. That had thrown Ichigo for a loop. Her young employee looked at her as if he had just seen her for the first time. "We need to talk."

Ichigo wasn't sure what to make of it. Her tone was softer than what he was used to. It was different from how she spoke to Kaoru. It was just as sincere, but it was a gentleness he was unaccustomed to receiving from Ikumi at least. The older woman motioned for him to sit down. He complied with her wishes without protest.

"Today a man came here today. He wanted to hire us to run an investigation." That wasn't unusual. They had done investigations before. Ikumi would run a series of questions to make sure the client hiring them wasn't a crazy stalker or thief before she agreed to anything. Why would she need to speak to him about this job? She never saw fit to include him in the process before. His boss must have seen through his confusion, because she gave him a look that was filled with an emotion he had never seen in Ikumi before. Ichigo saw fear.

The raven haired woman went to her desk and grabbed something. "You need to see this." Ikumi walked up to him and handed him what looked like a photo. The fear still radiating from her eyes urged the former vizard to look. He misunderstood her fear. He thought it was uncharacteristic fear for herself when it was fear for him. The photo he was looking at was the face of none other than Kurosaki Isshin, his father.

"W-what the hell is this?" Ichigo choked out. "Why do you have a photo of my dad?"

Ikumi took a breath before exhaling quietly. She had expected this reaction. "The man wanted me to run an investigation on the man in the photo." The brown eyes left the photo and went to her. He was bewildered, fearful, and pained even. It was the first time she had ever seen Ichigo look so lost. It served as a painful reminder that regardless of how tough he acted or how mature he was (in those rare times) that he was still just a kid. "The man wanted me to investigate your father. He gave me this picture."

It didn't make sense. It didn't make any sense at all. A man wanted to investigate his father. What was the man playing at? Was he a fool? He had to have been one. There was no other explanation why anyone would want to investigate a doctor that ran a small clinic. "There has to be some kind of mistake," Ichigo said. "This is my dad we're talking about. He's just….I mean he's no one special." His throat clamped up immediately. It was a lie. He said his father was no one special, but that wasn't true. His father was a shinigami. At one point in his life he was responsible for keeping the balance of souls and hunting down hollows. It was a task that no normal man would have even known about, let alone been able to do.

He felt his stomach drop. Was it possible the man who saw Ikumi today knew about his father's past? No, that had to be impossible! How could a man know anything about his father? Ichigo hadn't even an inkling of suspicion of his father's other life until he came to his rescue in the battle with Aizen. Until he saw his old man wearing the black robes and carrying a zanpakuto hadn't even speculated that he could have been a shinigami. If Ichigo hadn't suspected anything in sixteen years, how could some unknown man have guessed the truth?

"Ichigo," Ikumi called him. Her concern for him was so powerful that it was suffocating. Ichigo was unsure how he felt about her concern. "I told him I would need time to think about taking the job. I wanted to talk to you first."

He heard Ikumi. He just hadn't responded. His mind was still running rampant. His father looked exactly as he did now. That meant the photo had to have been within the last few years. He doubted it was older than five years. For all he knew it could have been taken a few months ago. That meant this man had seen his old man somewhat recently. It didn't look like any of the pictures they had at home of his father in his twenties or what Ichigo had always assumed was his twenties. Now that he thought about it he hadn't seen one picture of his father as a child or even teenager. All the pictures of him were when he was dating his mother. He had left the Soul Society as an adult.

That was assuming he left the Soul Society at all and he wasn't exiled. What if this wasn't a human man? What if he was a shinigami wearing a gigai trying to find his father? Was he a wanted criminal of the Soul Society? That would explain why he was less than eager to share his past with Ichigo. He did know Urahara. His old mentor was an exiled shinigami himself. It wouldn't be out of the question for him to have associated with another exile. Hell, Hirako and the vizards were exiles as well. Urahara built an inner circle of exiles and wanted fugitives of Soul Society.

_'You are being paranoid,'_ he told himself. _'If dad was a wanted criminal why would someone from the Soul Society hire Ikumi-san to find him? They would go to Urahara-san. They would have dealings with him, not regular humans. This man can't be from the Soul Society, can he?'_

"Did the man give you a phone number or any kind of way to reach him?"

"No. Now that I think about it he didn't leave me any way to contact him." Her mind was preoccupied with the man's interest in Ichigo's father she hadn't even thought to ask for a number or noticed that he hadn't given her one. "He wanted me to hang on to the photo until I decided whether I'd take the job or not. He said he wanted it back if we decided not to take it."

The man just left the photo, but no way to contact him. That didn't add up. The whole situation was off. If wanted to hear their answer on taking the job than he should have given them a way to contact him. Even if he was just going to come back the next day for an answer he would or should have told Ikumi so she knew when to expect him and when she needed to give him an answer. _'Does he know I work here? Does he know that Kurosaki Isshin's son works here? If he knows I work here than was this supposed to be a message?'_ he thought.

"What was the man like?" he barely said above a whisper.

"I'm sorry?"

"What was the man like!?" he shouted.

Ikumi was shocked by his outburst, but even more shocked the raw emotion in his gaze. This had unsettled him more than she thought it would. It was understandable. Who would think to investigate Ichigo's father? "He was polite enough. He seemed kind at first, but…"

"But what?" he asked.

"Something felt off about him. I couldn't put my finger on it. I guess he was a bit odd. I mean he didn't really stand out too much. I mean he was tall, pretty good looking, I mean I wouldn't kick him out of bed." One glare from Ichigo told her she had strayed too far off topic for his comfort. "He looked perfectly ordinary except for the scar."

"He had a scar? Where was it at?"

"It was just above the left side of his eye. I wouldn't have seen it at all if his hair hadn't been pulled back," she explained.

Aside from a scar, nothing about this man really stood out. A good looking tall man didn't narrow down the number of people. He doubted he could just go out and find this man. That meant he had to wait for him to come back. Damn it! He was on the defensive. He hated that. What was this man's interest in his father? Was it only limited to his father? There was no telling if he was interested in his whole family. Were Karin and Yuzu in any danger?

"I didn't tell him anything," Ikumi said.

"Huh?" Ichigo wasn't following what she said.

"I didn't tell the man anything about Isshin or about you. I did lose my cool and mentioned I knew the name, but I never said the name out loud. He has no idea how I know him." At least she doesn't think he does. None of her contacts had panned out. The shop owner had no clue how much about Isshin or Ichigo that man knew. She had met Ichigo's father a few times. He was a nice man. He was a bit odd at times, but overall good. The thought of someone looking into him and his history didn't sit well with her. "I can tell the man we won't do it the next time he comes in here."

"No!" he said a little too quickly. "I mean could you try to find out a bit more about him first. I want to get a feel of him before we turn him down. That way I could tell my dad if he needs to worry." He wanted to ask her if she could find out more about the job, but feared if she dove into that it could lead to her to learning his family's otherworldly origins. Whatever his dad's reasons, he made it clear he didn't want too many people to know about his past. He hadn't even shared it with Ichigo yet. Of course if he knew about his dad's past maybe he would know what this man's interest in him could be. He could at least come up with a convincing lie to Ikumi to stop her from learning too much information.

"I can do that," she answered with a warm smile. For some reason seeing that smile erased some of the anxiety coursing through his body. "Considering all that's happened if you want to go home I wouldn't object."

"No. I promised you I would work today. I am going to do work." He forced a smile. "Thank you, but I will be fine. Do we have any landscaping? I can still knock a few out of the way before it gets dark." Work would do him some good. It would take his mind off this mysterious man and the interest he had in his father. There was nothing he could do about it anyway. With no way to contact or track the man his hands were tied. What would his father say if he knew of this? Should he even tell him when he had such limited information? Work would give him time to think about what he should do.

* * *

><p>Sado-kun hadn't been home again. He either hadn't been home or didn't answer the door again. Orihime wasn't sure which one it was. When she got off of work she went to visit him. This time she had brought bread for him. If Sado-kun was sick then he would need to keep up his strength to fight the illness. He hadn't answered the door, so she left a bag of bread on his door. He couldn't miss it. That had been two days in a row. It was odd. Sado-kun had been at school last week. It had only been two days so she decided not to let herself get worried. It was natural to be sick for a few days.<p>

Orihime went home. Instead of going to her apartment, her feet took her to the Kurosaki Clinic. The auburn princess mused on when she started thinking of the Kurosaki home as her own over her own apartment. She found herself not caring, thinking that it felt right to call the small clinic her home. She even knew where they kept the spare key. Ichigo had told her to start using it more often at night. He didn't like her waiting for someone to answer the door nighttime. It took several arguments before he wore her down and she agreed to just use the spare key at night. The rest of the family didn't have any problems like she feared they would. Tonight was no different.

Orihime walked in the door she saw Karin walking by. "Hey, Hime-nee," she greeted.

"Hi, Karin-chan." She put the key back into its hiding place before she closed the door.

Karin furrowed her brow. "Oh geez, don't tell me you brought more bread," she said in exasperation.

She had forgotten about the bag of bread she was carrying in her hand. Her boss had given her enough bread to give to both Sado-kun and the Kurosaki family. Her boss was always so thoughtful. Orihime couldn't turn him down. Judging from Karin's face she might have to reconsider. Bread was becoming abundant at the Kurosaki household it seemed. "I thought Yuzu-chan might appreciate more bread," she said uneasily.

"Hime-nee, we have too much bread now!"

Orihime laughed and rubbed the back of her head absent mindedly. "I guess I have been bringing home a lot of bread lately. I guess I could give this to Tatsuki-chan tomorrow."

"You don't have to do that. I'm sure Yuzu will accept it. You have to remember there are only five people in this house. If you get anymore we can't possibly eat all of it before it goes bad." Karin wanted to be annoyed at Orihime for bringing more bread into the house, but she just couldn't. The only reason she brought home so much bread was because she was thinking about them. Orihime always thought about other people and put their needs first. There were worse flaws to have. If all it did was give them a bit too much bread that was a small price to pay.

"How come Ichigo isn't with you?"

"He had to work late today, but he should be home for dinner."

"Is that Onee-chan?" Yuzu's voice asked.

"Yes, it is me," Orihime answered.

The youngest of the Kurosaki siblings shot into the room like a rocket. Orihime could barely follow her. Yuzu wrapped her arms around her body and began to spin, forcing Orihime to spin with her. She had no idea what had gotten into the younger girl, but seeing her so happy made Orihime happy. "Yuzu-chan, why are we spinning?"

"We're celebrating!" declared Yuzu.

"What are we celebrating?"

"I got a 95 on the assessment exam they gave us the other day! Can you believe it? I got a 95!"

"That is great news!" Orihime cheered. She joined Yuzu's celebration and spun around with her for as long as she could before the dizziness sunk in. Miraculously she didn't fall over when they stopped. "What was your score, Karin-chan?" she asked enthusiastically.

"I don't see what the big deal is," Karin said. "It is just an assessment exam. It's not like it was anything important."

Orihime's first thought was that Karin didn't do well on the exam. If that was the case she just danced around with Yuzu celebrating her high score without even considering Karin's feelings. That thought passed. Karin was smart. She wasn't the type of girl to get excited about something like an assessment exam good or bad score.

"I don't understand why you aren't more excited," a baffled Yuzu said. "You did even better than me and got a 97. Why aren't you more excited?"

"You got a 97!" squealed Orihime.

"Yeah," Karin said nonchalantly. Orihime pulled her into a tight hug.

"This is really amazing! I am so happy for you, Karin-chan!" the healer praised. "You should be proud of yourself! Did both of you tell your father?"

"Yeah! Dad was excited about it too," Karin revealed. Orihime still hadn't let her go yet. It was a good thing that she controlled her strength and didn't crush Karin.

"You deserve an award!" Orihime said out loud. "Tomorrow I will bring you ice cream!"

Yuzu applauded the idea. Karin cheered for that idea. Orihime was a cool combination of big sister and dotting mother. She never minded spending time with them or doing anything with them like an elder sister would. She was all ready to shower them with praise or pick them up when they needed it, almost like a mom. It was a combination Karin took a liking to and Yuzu had embraced.

"I'm sure your brother will be thrilled when he learns about this." Yuzu lit up at that statement, but Karin scoffed at it. Orihime was surprised by how the twins could differ so much and share so many similarities at the same time.

"You brought us more bread," Yuzu stated. She took it off Orihime's hands. Her reception had been less exasperated than her sister's, but she did inform the healer that they were good on bread for a while after this. Orihime promised herself not to get them anymore bread.

It would be a while before Ichigo came home. Orihime decided against going into his room until he got there. She used the dining table to start her homework. Just as she took her books out her cellphone rang. She expected Ichigo or Tatsuki, but was surprised when she saw the name. "Hello, Masaoka-chan," Orihime answered.

"When are you going to call me Shiori?" Orihime's one time rival asked.

With as close as the two girls had become it was hard to believe that there was a time where Orihime was jealous of Ichigo's former co-worker and the crush she once had on Ichigo. "I'm sorry. I guess it still feels too weird to use your given name. How are you doing at the university?" Shiori was a year ahead of them. She had already graduated high school and gotten into college. The college was close by. It was less than thirty minutes away by train. She decided to stay in Karakura Town and keep her job. It was cheaper than finding a new place.

"School is fine. I did well on my first exam at least."

"That's good news." It looked like everyone was getting good scores on exams today.

"How are you doing?" Shiori asked.

"I am doing great. I was just about to do my homework."

"I won't keep you too long then. I just wanted to see how you were doing. It has been a while since we talked last."

"It has been too long," Orihime said. "We'll have to talk more."

"That sounds good. I'll call you later when you aren't so busy."

"I would like that."

"I'll talk to you later. Goodbye."

"Goodbye." Orihime hung up the phone. It was time to hit the books.

Shiori hung up her phone. Her stop was coming up soon. "Excuse me." Shiori looked up. A board smile spread across her lips. What were the chances of a tall good looking man would show up out of thin air? "May I take this seat?" he asked.

"Go ahead." The man took a seat right next to her. He smiled at her and made her cheeks burn. He really was pleasing to the eye.

"You are very pretty," he said.

"You aren't too bad yourself," Shiori flirted. The man continued to smile at her. He brushed a few strands of hair away. That was unusual sight. There was a scar on the left side of his face. It made him look dangerous. She could use a little danger in her life.

* * *

><p><strong>The chapter was longer than I intended it to be, but I wanted to get all this development out in this chapter. Were people surprised by Tsukishima coming to the shop instead of Ginjo? I wanted at least try to make a twist from last chapter. I hoped at least some of you were a bit surprised by it. As you can see this chapter deviates a bit more from canon than the previous chapters, while still keeping the general plot in mostly intact. You should expect more of that in the future. With any luck I can throw twists that surprise you or very least different enough that you find interesting and keep invested enough to find out where this is going or different this may or may be from the canon storyline. I do have plans in mind that will be quite different from canon. Some of those changes will give Sado a bigger role in the story than he had in the actual arc. <strong>

**If everything goes according to plan the next chapter should have a few more surprises, some romance, and a few interesting discussions. Don't worry the Xcution plot should be coming up soon. I hope you guys liked the chapter. **


	6. Knowns and Unknowns 2: Truths

**Chapter six is up and running and it only took a week get up. I hope you guys enjoy it.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach in anyway or form.**

* * *

><p>Work had gone by in the blink of an eye. Normally whenever he had to work late time felt like it stood still. Ichigo couldn't remember how many times he looked at the clock and prayed for it to move faster on those late evenings Ikumi had him working. He counted on another long work evening to give him enough time to figure out what he should do about the mysterious man and his interest in Ichigo's father. In a cruel twist of bitter irony time had passed him by. When Ichigo asked for his next assignment Ikumi told him that his shift was over. He disputed her until Ikumi made him look at the clock.<p>

Ichigo almost asked if he could work overtime, but he decided against it. He still needed to finish his homework. If he stayed later his family would get worried. Considering the developing situation, the ex-substitute didn't want to add to his families growing troubles. He had a feeling that Ikumi wouldn't have allowed him to work overtime if he asked anyway. No, she would have seen right through him and knew he was trying to avoid going home. If that happened she might have called his father and informed him of what was going on. Ichigo couldn't let that happen. If anyone should tell his father what was going on it should be him.

The problem was he still had no idea if he should tell his old man about the mystery man or not. Four hours and he still had no fucking clue what he should do. Telling his father was the right thing, wasn't it? He had no real information on what was going on. If Ichigo told him, that could make his father act differently, which would be suspicious if someone was spying on their family. Obviously someone had to have been spying on his father. That picture was fairly recent. It was in the realm of possibility that his home was under surveillance even now.

_'Damn, I sound like some crazy paranoid freak. If I told that to people they would think I'm being paranoid,'_ Ichigo thought grimly. He tried to shove that irrational fear away, but on his journey home he found that fear was becoming less and less irrational. Before he realized it he was looking over his shoulder more times than he was happy to admit during the walk. He must have been paranoid, because the whole walk home he felt like he was being watched. It made his skin itch. No matter how many times he turned around he never saw anyone. That made him ashamed at how easily he let himself get shaken up. He hadn't even met this man and he already let him get into his head. What happened to him? When did he become so pathetic?

His home was a sight for sore eyes. He made up his mind to stop being paranoid. Just because the mysterious man wanted to investigate his father didn't mean he was spying on Ichigo. He had to get it together or he would just worry his sisters and Orihime unnecessarily. He put them through enough worry for two lifetimes. He wasn't about to get their worries up for something that could be minor. "I'm home!" he announced, as he walked through the door.

Immediately he was ambushed by Yuzu. His younger sister was possessed by pure ecstasy. He was dumbfounded by the display. "Welcome home, Onii-chan!" she greeted. In a flash Yuzu whipped out a piece of paper, which looked like a graded exam. "I got a 95 on my assessment exam!"

"That's good news," he said. Ichigo failed to match Yuzu's excitement. His response was lifeless and mechanical compared to his sister. It was a reaction that Yuzu did not appreciate at all. His younger sister huffed. "That's great news, Yuzu!" He at least put more pep into it. He forced a smile out.

Yuzu let out an irritated moan. "Ichigo, you are the worse! You don't even sound convincing," she complained. She stormed off in a huff before he could say anything else. He was going to pay for that in the morning. Ichigo could do without another of her angry breakfasts.

"Come on Yuzu. Don't be like that." The ex-substitute followed after her and headed to the dining room. Yuzu had gone into the kitchen. He winced at the sight. She was finishing up dinner. He riled her up when she was cooking. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Orihime at the table. They exchanged greetings before his attention returned to Yuzu. His girlfriend wished him good luck with a smile. "I was just caught by surprise," he told Yuzu.

"It's fine. I should have expected that type of reaction from you." Was her back turned toward him because she was busy fixing the rest of dinner or to punish him? "Why would you be excited? I mean dad and Orihime-chan were excited at my good news, but why would you?"

"Dad's here?" Yuzu's wrath was quickly being forgotten. The light brown haired girl made an expression that asked where else in the world their father would be at this time. Ichigo both didn't care that his sister was looking at him like an idiot and ignored it. "Where is he, in his office?"

"Well yeah," she replied. Her big brother started heading in that direction before she even finished her sentence. "Wait, Onii-chan! Dad said he was working on something and not to disturb him until dinner is ready."

That stopped Ichigo in his tracks. Being a doctor meant there were times when their dad would tell them not to disturb him when he was with a patient or studying their condition. What Yuzu said shouldn't have surprised him, but after what happened today Ichigo couldn't help but feel suspicious. Did his father know about the mystery man already and was trying to figure things out on his own? Should he knock on the door anyway? That would just make the others curious. It was better to just wait later. "When is dinner ready anyway?"

"It should be done in half an hour," Yuzu answered.

"I'll be in my room doing homework," Ichigo simply stated.

"Do you mind if I join you?" asked Orihime bashfully.

He raised an eyebrow. "You don't need to ask you know." Ichigo couldn't believe she would still be bashful asking to come into his room. She stayed in his room for a few months. Something must have been on her mind to make her regress to blushing school girl afraid of being improper for asking to go into his room.

He waited for her to gather her things. Once she had done that they headed to his room. They made small talk. Unlike him, she was more encouraging about his sisters' exams and even promised them ice cream. No wonder Yuzu was so upset at his lack of enthusiasm. In a lot of ways Orihime filled the role of the encouraging and fun older sibling role that Ichigo often did not fill himself. He was always there for his sisters and they knew he loved them and would do anything for them, but he didn't always understand or share their excitement over things they did. Orihime always seemed to match their energy, which made things more fun with her than with him.

As soon as he hit the door he shed the coat of his uniform. It was spring time, but tonight had been unseasonably warm. It was getting stuffy. Orihime followed suit, but unlike him she neatly folded her coat before taking a seat at his bed without batting an eye lash. It strengthened his theory on her earlier nervousness being due to something being on her mind. "I forgot to ask if you wanted a snack or anything to drink before we came up here."

"Don't worry. Yuzu-chan gave me a snack when I first got here and I am not really thirsty. Thank you for the offer." Orihime was as polite as always, but he could spot something was wrong. Her shoulders were stiff, while the rest of her body was fidgety. Her hands were on her lap, but they were doing anything except resting. It was like she was at war with her body to stay still. The body wasn't going down without a fight judging by how restless it was being.

"Ok, spill it."

"I'm sorry?" she asked, genuinely not comprehending what he meant.

"You are fidgeting so much that you might as well have ants in your clothes." He watched as Orihime's eyes widened in astonishment. Damn her for looking as adorably innocent as a child. They had been together for over a year and he still had to mount a strong enough defense against it. "You always get all fidgety when something is on your mind. Now your cheeks are all red too."

"Eh," she uttered. Orihime wasn't sure why she was surprised. As their bond grew so did their ability to read each other. She was a terrible liar. Tatsuki had told her more times than she could count. Ichigo could practically read her mind at times. It was a talent that had proven very valuable at times. Now was one of those times. She was agonizing how to break down the strange presence that she thought was reiatsu. Ishida-kun had been right when he said that the possibility of Ichigo getting his spiritual powers back would breed hope. If she was wrong it would no doubt be a devastating blow to her beloved.

She never wanted to see him suffer. When he was in pain she felt her heart ache. If he was given hope of regaining his spiritual powers only to have it stolen from him yet again it would be more terrible than any physical blow, but Orihime believed he could withstand it. She had faith in him. "When I woke you up today I felt something strange around you for a second. It disappeared before I could really feel what it was."

Ichigo was surprised at how Orihime had just jumped into it. He thought he was going to see her tripping on her words in her clumsy attempts to ease him into it. He did prefer the more direct approach, especially with a subject about something strange surrounding him. That was strange in itself. Ichigo hadn't felt any different at all today. Even right now he didn't feel unusual. "Was it strange because it went away before you could sense it?"

"Not entirely." The answer sounded far too vague for her liking. Orihime couldn't imagine how it sounded to Ichigo. "When I sensed it I couldn't recognize what it was, but it went away too fast for me to really get a feel."

"Is that why my dad freaked out this morning?" The idea just came to him. Already his mind started making connections. His father's freak out had to be because of whatever Orihime had sensed. Why else would he ask if something was wrong with him? Was it also possible that it was connected to the mystery man with a scar? He speculated that the picture Ikumi had could have been taken recently, maybe in the last few years, but was it possible that it was even more recent than that? Was it possible that it was taken a few days ago? Maybe he wasn't being paranoid when he felt someone was watching him on his way home.

"I think it might be. I don't know for sure though. I haven't talked to your dad about this or his reaction this morning," she said truthfully. Orihime hoped he believed her. One glance from the chocolate eyes she loved told her he accepted her words as true without hesitation. The fact that he still had so much trust in her despite how she had handled the Privaron Espada made her stomach dip. It was a good dip, like the one you got on a rollercoaster. Would he still have that trust once she told him her theory? She couldn't put this off any longer.

"Ichigo-kun, I think what I sensed from you was reiatsu. I think it was your reiatsu," she elaborated. The mask of disinterest was nowhere to be found. He was completely bare with his emotions exposed for the rest of the world to see. Astonishment, fear, disbelief, excitement, and the emotion that was friend and enemy, hope, were all overflowing from him.

_"I think it was your reiatsu."_ Those words sparked something within his soul. It was something he couldn't identify, but it was something powerful. His emotions were racing all around. He couldn't decide on what to feel. He didn't even think his emotions knew what to feel. He was shocked to hear Orihime say she thought she sensed his reiatsu coming from him. He feared that maybe he misheard her and he jumped ahead of himself. He couldn't have misheard something like that! If she sensed his reiatsu that meant it was returning. If it was returning that meant his powers would return with them! He could have his powers back! That thought made his body tremble with elation. His spiritual powers, his shinigami powers, they could be coming back at this very moment. He would have the power to protect everyone he loved once again. This was a dream that came true. It was hope that had formed and rose as high as the skies themselves. It was a dream that had come true or was it a dream too good to be true?

Rational thought overpowered the roars of hope. If Orihime was right, wouldn't he feel his reiatsu return? He didn't feel spiritual energy running through his body. When he looked inside he couldn't feel the radiating warmth that came with spiritual energy. He couldn't even feel his Hime's life nurturing warmth that was her reiatsu. The cold realization came crashing down on him. His spiritual power was nowhere to be found. His shinigami powers were still gone. There was emptiness. He had become desolate. "I don't think that is what you felt." Pushing those words through his throat hurt worse than he ever thought possible. It was like ash was on his tongue. It was a harsh and bitter taste.

Hope dried fast. Much to her dismay the chocolate orbs that were always so vivid were dead. The healer had to peel her eyes away from him. She was despicable, truly she was. Ishida-kun had warned her how this would hurt him. She told herself how much pain this could cause him. When she saw the effect first hand she couldn't be brave enough to keep looking at him. "I….I know it is a long shot and I admit it felt different from before, but I think it was your reiatsu," she reiterated.

He just shook his head, obviously perturbed by her idea. Orihime couldn't blame him. Her story sounded far-fetched and she couldn't back it up. She couldn't feel anything coming from him at all, no matter how hard she strained her sixth sense. "I don't feel it," the unfortunate ex-substitute announced. "I mean I don't feel any spiritual power inside of me at all. I can't even sense your reiatsu. I'm exactly the same as I've been for the last seventeen months. Whatever you sensed, I don't think it was my reiatsu."

When she mustered enough courage to look at him she saw that his eyes were staring at his lap. They were a pair, yet neither one of them could bear the gaze of the other one. She was a terrible girlfriend. The least she could do was try to comfort him. She took hold of his hands in a perhaps a naïve attempt to coax him out of the downward spiral she pushed him into. "I am sorry for even saying anything." Dark brown spheres set their sights back on her. They were still glazed with gloom yet there was gratitude there.

"It's alright." The edges of his lips curled into a weary smile at least. "I get it. I mean you were trying to be honest with me on what you thought. It still sucks to know my powers aren't coming back, but I know you wouldn't have suggested that if you didn't think so. At least you talked to me about it this time."

"I am still sorry. I never want to be the reason your heart breaks," she professed earnestly. "I told Ishida-kun what I felt and he told me not to get your hopes up, but I wanted to be honest with you. Are you mad I told him?"

It figured Ishida would tell her to stay silent. The quincy had been powerless even if it had only been brief time compared to Ichigo, but he knew just how it felt to lose a power that you had defined yourself by. Out of respect Ishida wanted to keep him ignorant. Ichigo could see his point, but never the less he was happy Orihime had gone against that idea and told him what she thought regardless. She believed in his strength to accept whatever happened. Her boundless faith in him never ceased to amaze him.

"Look everything is fine, Orihime. You can tell Chad too if you want. I'm just glad you talked to me." His Hime became overjoyed. She wrapped her arms around him. Ichigo had to chuckle at the overly affectionate display. He had long ago gotten used to this. The hug was short actually. Orihime had caught herself or made it short intentionally to respect his personal space. "Did you meet Chad?"

"No. I went over to his apartment, but no one answered again. I left him some bread and a note."

"Chad didn't answer again." That made it two days in a row. He must have been really sick to not answer the door. Chad was too responsible to just ditch school for two days without a reason. Nothing was going on, or at least nothing major that required them to miss school to prepare for. He had to be sick. "He might be out for the week if he didn't answer the door. If he is sick I don't want to keep bugging him by knocking on his door every day. I think we should wait to visit him until next week."

"A week is enough time for him to recover if he is sick. If we wait the chances are we'll see him at school next week anyway. If he doesn't show up next week we could see about visiting him again and see if anything is wrong."

His suggestion was reasonable. The last thing Orihime wanted to do was be a pest. Sado-kun shouldn't have to worry about having to drag himself out of bed just to answer the door. What if she woke him up today? He needed lots of rest and she kept interrupting him! What was wrong with her?

"Don't freak out." Once again her boyfriend demonstrated his amazing ability to read her feelings. "It was nothing big. You were just worried. Chad will appreciate your concern. One of your best qualities is how you worry about everyone. It's not a bad quality to have."

Orihime loved how he could effortlessly make her feel better about herself. The love resonating in his gaze made her heart flutter. She planted her lips on his and stole a quick kiss. She loved the freedom to do that whenever she felt like it. The small smile on his lips told her he enjoyed it himself. "About the strange aura I felt from you, have you, um, ever noticed if someone was following you?"

The sudden change in subject threw him off. The former vizard was hoping they would enjoy a few more kisses and maybe a little more. "No," answered Ichigo. "Wait, I thought someone might be watching me on the walk home, but…" Could he tell her about the mystery man? The scar man was interested in his father, but he still had no idea if he was interested in the rest of them. It involved his father's past. That was a subject he wanted to keep quiet about. His dad probably wouldn't have wanted him to go blab to Orihime would he? "…I wasn't sure if I was being paranoid or something." It wasn't the whole truth, but it was as much of the truth that pertained to him. He could tell Orihime that much at least. The scar man would come up later after he talked to his father about it.

"Maybe I was overacting," he heard her say. "You feel fine right?"

"Yeah."

"I could have just been worried about nothing. It has been peaceful ever since we defeated the Privaron Espada. I could be paranoid." She felt fingers gently course through her hair. It was token that conveyed both his affection and encouragement. He leaned forward and kissed her. "We have to do homework," she reminded him.

A mischievous smirk emerged from those delicious lips. Her cheeks burned. "Give me five minutes." Not waiting for a response Ichigo kissed her again.

"Ichigo-kun," she scolded, but with no real effort. Five minutes wasn't that long. They would still have enough time to finish their homework. It could be a preemptive study break. She gave in and indulged her naughtier side. She sampled those very tasty lips. It was just five minutes.

* * *

><p>Dinner had been the same. Nothing out of the ordinary had happened at least. He badgered his children about their day and they gave the typical responses. Yuzu and Orihime were more than happy to share any and every detail they could. Karin and Ichigo gave him the basic summaries, but if he wanted more information he would have to pull teeth. Isshin made sure that he acted just as he always had. He was loud, overzealous, and lovable.<p>

All in all he was his jolly old self. Isshin was happy to see that no one had brought up his odd behavior from breakfast. That was only half the battle. The black haired man hadn't come up with a way to question Ichigo. His mind was plagued all day about how he would talk to his son. He had been so confident when he left Urahara's shop. As the hours passed, the former shinigami captain found himself more and more unsure of himself. Damn Urahara. His words played over and over in his mind.

_"Do you really think he'll be open with you when there is so much you haven't told him?"_

Isshin hated the bastard because, like always, he made a valid point. It was hard just to get Ichigo to open up as it was about his regular life. How the hell was he supposed to get his boy to be truthful about a serious issue like the strange feeling that was around him? What made matters even worse was that he hadn't shared his story with Ichigo yet. He could never seem to muster up the nerve to tell him about the past, the past Isshin shared with Masaki. How could he be expected to share that with Ichigo though? He wasn't ready for it. It would only pick at an old wound that should remain closed. Masaki wouldn't want their son to be so preoccupied with the past that he forgot to live in the present. As far as he was concerned Ichigo didn't need to know about an old enemy that they weren't even sure would return or not. His son didn't need to waste his life preparing for something that might not ever happen, let alone in his lifetime.

He would tell Ichigo when the time was right. The shinigami turned doctor knew when the time was right that he would know it. He had to know the right time. Dwelling on the past wouldn't aid him in confronting his son. Isshin kept his sights on the present. That was all that mattered at the moment. He would take care of this strange presence business first. Dinner went by fast. It was Karin's turn to do the dishes. They all got up to return to their business. It was tempting to let Ichigo go with Orihime to finish his homework in his room, but he knew if he let Ichigo go he would never be able to talk to him.

"Ichigo," he called. The orange haired son turned back to look at him. "I wanted to talk to you for a bit, alone." He hoped Orihime didn't take offense to that. The merry healer politely excused herself and went upstairs alone. She was an angel. He really hoped Ichigo didn't blow it with her.

Unbeknown to Isshin his son was secretly relieved that he had wanted to talk. Now was as good a time as any to talk to his father about the investigation. "What's up?" he asked his father.

It was times like this that Isshin envied his late wife's ability to talk. Yes, he talked a lot and was the life of the party at social events, but he was never good with real talk. It was funny at how much Ichigo took after him. His son hadn't even realized it. "I guess there is no beating around the bush. I wanted to ask if everything was ok."

His old man was stuck on this again? It was annoying to hear the same question yet again. He would have thought that his dad could think of a new way to broach the question. "Everything is fine. I don't feel strange at all."

"Are you sure though?" Isshin questioned, hoping for a different response. It was silly to just repeat the same question and expect a different response. "Did anyone weird hang around you at all today?"

The new question struck a chord. Did his father know of the man with a scar? Was that why he acted out this morning? "No. At least there was no one I saw that was weird." His father gave a firm nod. Was that all? He wasn't going to go into more detail about who the weird person was and why he might want to hang around him? Why should he expect anything different though? His father never gave him more information than he was willing to give. It was frustrating to be kept in the dark most of the time. Seventeen months and he hadn't even so much as hinted to Ichigo that he would tell him to the truth about his origins.

Those origins were coming to haunt him and he had no clue why he should be worried. "Is there someone who might want to follow me?" he asked point blank.

"I don't know," the middle aged man proclaimed. This wasn't going the way he had hoped. If someone had come into contact with Ichigo and was responsible for the strange presence he felt before what were the chances that Ichigo would notice? "I felt something strange about you this morning, but I guess I was wrong. Just forget about it." Isshin tried to laugh it off.

He was lying. The laugh was forced. His father hadn't been mistaken and he didn't believe he was either. Ichigo didn't have any answers for him, or at least ones useful to him, and so he tried to brush the whole thing under the rug. Was he ever going to be honest with him? He tried being patient, but it was becoming increasingly harder to do. He didn't necessarily need to know all his father's secrets, but he did he feel the need to keep him in the dark about everything? It was bad enough to get that from Urahara, but his own father!

He got that his dad had his reasons. He really did get that. If he suspected that someone would follow him then how could he keep that from him? Did his father think that now that he was powerless that he was useless? Just because he couldn't fight anymore didn't mean that he couldn't handle himself. He at least deserved to know if he needed to keep his eyes open. "I wanted to talk to you about something." The ex-substitute wasn't trying to conceal the anger he felt. His old man picked up on it. He winced as he felt Ichigo's words hit him. "Unless you want to talk to me about something else?" He laid down the line hoping his father would snap at it. This was still a chance for his father to be truthful with him, to share something with him.

The line was ignored. "No. I guess I just got it wrong." Ichigo knew he wasn't going to get any answers from him, at least not without some incentive.

"Ikumi-san told me that someone came in the shop today asking about you before I came into work." When his father wanted to, he could hide his emotions pretty well. His expression was impassive. "She hasn't taken the job yet, but she told me first. I wanted to tell you about it. Is there something we need to worry about?"

"Why should it be anything to worry about? I mean I'm just a humble yet very talented doctor who runs a clinic. It's not the stuff movies are made out of," Isshin joked.

Was his father being serious? There were times he couldn't tell if he was being ignorant or cunning. "I thought you might want to take this serious considering you just asked if someone weird was hanging around me," he pointed out. His father just shrugged his shoulders like it was inconsequential. "You did hear me right? Someone hired my boss to investigate you. What if this someone knows you're a shinigami?"

"I seriously doubt it is that," Isshin brushed off.

"How can you be so sure?"

"Ichigo, I'm sure it is nothing. If you haven't noticed anyone weird hanging around you, I'm sure I just overreacted. I'm sure this guy at work is just some normal guy."

"Are you willing to bet your life….our lives on it?"

"It's not a bet. It is probably nothing. I mean, if it was something than why go to Ikumi's shop? They would most likely go to the Urahara Shop or approach you directly. Try not to worry so much."

He couldn't believe it. How could his father brush it off like that? He acted as if Ichigo was an overreacting child who made a mountain out of a molehill. Anger rose form the pit of his stomach. The sight of his old man was becoming an eyesore. Ichigo turned his back on him and left. If his father wasn't going take this seriously, than he was. He wasn't completely useless just because he had no spiritual power.

Ichigo didn't take it well. Isshin had to play it off. He didn't want to get Ichigo mixed into whatever was going on. Something was in the works. A strange presence was around Ichigo and someone came to his boss's shop to find information about him. Whatever was going on they were trying to draw Ichigo in, but he refused to let that happen. He would be a father and would protect his children.

* * *

><p>It was a beautiful night. The air was cool, but not chilly. It was warm, but not unreasonably so. Granted it was warmer than was normal for this season. The stars were out in full force today. On the outskirts of town, away from all the lights of the city, they came in so well that they were stunning. It was a beautiful night. If he didn't have business to attend to he might have been able to enjoy the stroll. His contact would not take too kindly to find him out just enjoying the evening. The person he was meeting was much too serious. It was no good to get wound up over minor things.<p>

"You're late," an aggravated voice snarled.

He laughed to himself. His powers of presumption had been proven correct again. "My, my, you should relax more often. Allowing yourself to get twisted and bent out of shape over every little thing is a good way to raise your blood pressure, you know."

"God, you are annoying," the voice spoke again.

A mischievous grin spread across his lips. "It is not my intention to annoy you." They both knew that wasn't true. It was a sport with him. He loved to toy with people and make them lose their patience. "I do have my own business, you know. I can't drop everything just because you asked me to meet you."

"I thought you would take this more seriously since you were the one who told me to watch over Kurosaki Ichigo." That did the trick. As soon as the ex-substitute shinigami's name was mentioned that infernal man had stopped his jesting. "I thought you would want to know that someone wants to make contact with him."

"Is that so? You wouldn't happen to know just who that someone is would you?" He heard his contact snort.

"I have no idea who they are. All I did was what you asked me to do. I kept an eye on the boy to see if anything unusual would happen. I thought a man with a scar looking for information on Kurosaki Isshin was unusual."

"How can you be sure this man wasn't actually interested in Isshin-san?"

"There is a possibility of that, but I thought his son would be a more likely target. I admit that was only my gut feeling."

"I believe your gut is right. Somehow I doubt that Isshin-san is the target. This is an interesting development. Let me ask you something. Have you felt a strange aura around Kurosaki-san?"

"No. He feels exactly the same as before. I sense nothing coming from him at all."

"There is still time to act then."

"What does that mean?" the voice questioned.

The man grinned again. The bastard was as sly as fox. "Let's just say my plans are about to go into motion. It benefits them for Kurosaki-san to remain powerless at the moment. That's why I need you to continue to observe him in secret."

"You haven't even told his father about me have you?"

"What would make you say that?" he asked playful, yet avoided answering the question. "You are not a very trusting person," he continued to fake being insulted.

"You really are a bastard you know that, Urahara?"

Kisuke just grinned away again. The trickster in him thrived on sewing confusion and manipulation. Being called a bastard was praise for him at this point. "Thank you for your services. I am always thankful for your hard work. Please continue to watch over Kurosaki-san for now. If something unusual occurs be sure to inform me. Be sure you are careful. We don't want Kurosaki-san to know you're watching him."

"I know. I am being careful. He doesn't suspect a thing."

"Don't underestimate him. Kurosaki-san is very perceptive," Kisuke warned.

"What type of man spies on his allies? Sometimes I wonder if you are Ichigo's ally or his enemy."

"That's good," the shop owner said. "You should question if I am on his side or not. The moment you become complacent or assume you know everything is when you are defeated. Remember those words well. They could save your life." He could feel his contact's petrified stare on his back. "After all, who is to say my plans haven't just been aligned with Kurosaki-san's wishes? If that was the case, if our plans diverged, then there is no telling what would happen. An unknown element like Kurosaki-san might be safer to dispose of instead of planning around."

"That is just food for thought," he finished. Alliances shifted. They always shifted one way or another. The truth was Kurosaki Ichigo was a powerful ally, but a dangerous enemy. There could come the day where he would need to be eliminated, especially if he got in the way.

* * *

><p><strong>How was that ending? Urahara is working behind the scenes and not even Isshin knows everything he is doing. Kisuke is my favorite character in the series. One thing I've noticed is how little we know about him and how he always has hidden agenda that we don't always see. His goals and plans are not necessarily for the benefit of the main cast. I kept that in mind for this story. He is a morally gray character and I wanted to embrace that. He'll make moves and countermoves based on his long term plan. If this plan is going to benefit Ichigo and everyone else is going to be up in the air. <strong>

**I hope you guys liked what I did with Isshin. I know played up the secrets angle more than canon did, but I always thought a big issue in the arc and what caused a lot of problems was Ichigo's feeling he couldn't trust his dad or talk to him. I wanted to play that up more and give Ichigo more of reason for not going to him. Personally I thought it would be frustrating to have your dad promise to tell you something big and then ignore it for almost two years. Since the series made it clear in both LSS arc and the final arc that not knowing his family's history was a major issue that actually impeded Ichigo's growth I decided to show some of that here. To be honest Isshin never really gave Ichigo a reason why he waited so long to tell him the truth. This is only my interpretation of why I think he kept it a secret. I always see Isshin is worried about Ichigo and trying his hardest to keep him safe emotionally if not always physically. If you read 1 year and 5 months you should know I wrote Isshin as guilty about rely on Ichigo and letting him get into dangerous situations. He is overcompensating by trying to keep him in the dark and trying to give him a normal life. That is going to create fiction between father and son that will help move the plot.**

**Who is Urahara's contact? Was Ichigo being watched on his way home or was he being paranoid? Are alliances shifting already just like Kisuke mentioned? All these changes aren't drastically different from the manga yet, but while they may seem minor right now they have the potential to change the story and put a new spin on things. I really hope you guys liked the chapter. **


End file.
